May I Live Once in Peace
by Two Halfs One Whole
Summary: "You don't have to forgive me, but no matter what you decide to do from now on...know that I will always love you."- Itachi Uchiha Though he lived a strenuous life he was able to tell his younger brother Sasuke how he truly felt. But now he has been brought back once more and placed in a new world with more problems than he ever thought possible. Adopted from Anime hotty lover.18
1. The Mission

Hey guys, first I'd like to Anime hotty lover.18 for allowing me to finish this story. I really enjoy it and promise to try to do right by her. With that being said, let's start the story!

I do not own young justice or Naruto.

I have always watched from a distance, the people of my home, Konohagakure. The safety of the residents of the Hidden Leaf Village, both ninja and civilian alike, have been my goal since childhood. I wanted to make sure another Great Ninja War would never happen again. My first step was dealing with my family. The Uchiha clan was not only a powerful group, but a hurt one too and that was always a dangerous combination. They could have torn my village apart from the inside. The massacre of my clan had to happen; there was no way around it.

I once lived and breathed the morals of my family and clan, but as time passed I developed my own nindo, my own ninja way. I refused to follow in my clan's deadly path any longer. Even though they were my family, I did what was necessary of me and saved my village. On that fateful night, I killed every member of my clan, thus stopping the civil war before it even began. Only my younger brother, Sasuke, survived. I left him alone, surrounded by the corpses of our parents and clan and let him grow in it. I wanted his hatred to fester and grow like a child just like I told him to do and when he was ready; he'd deliver me the justice I deserved. I left that day feeling hollowed out but I knew it had to be done. I had no regrets…until now. Over the time of my journey through life I started to realize that the lies and deceits would come back to haunt me.

It was predetermined by me, my death was so close I could see and touch it. I knew I was dying from the inside, over time I contracted a terminal illness that would soon take me from this world, but in order for my plan to work it had to be my brother who does it. Sasuke will come to our clan's secret hideout to face and kill me. And then after our battle, as I stood face to face with Sasuke I got to deliver my final words, "Forgive me Sasuke, but this is it…"

After that I died and felt peace. I accepted death by my brother's hand and felt joy at being able to apologize to him, but something felt wrong. I think I had more to say, but I guess it's too late.

It seemed like that was the last time, our last meeting, but later on Kabuto would absorb the powers of Orochimaru and cast the reanimation jutsu. It not only brought me back, but it disturbed the rest of many of the world's fallen shinobi.

I thought that being killed by Sasuke would put me at ease, but after seeing him again, seeing how hurt and confused he was just reopened those old wounds I thought I had closed. I had a second chance to tell him not just what he needed, but what I needed as well and in my final moments, I left him with these parting words.

"I have told you the whole truth. I won't have to ever again...I always lied to you and asked you to forgive me. Deliberately keeping you at a distance by my own hand. All because I didn't want you to get caught up in any of this. But now, I believe that perhaps you could have changed father, mother and the rest of the Uchiha.

If I had been open with you from the start and looked you straight in the eyes and told you the truth then, I wouldn't have had to stand before you, from above, as a failure, telling you all of this. So this time, I want to impart the truth to you.

You don't ever have to forgive me and no matter what you do from here on out, know this...I will always love you."

I finally thought that I could rest in peace knowing I revealed my true feelings to my brother Sasuke and that I could see Shisui, my mother, and my father. But as fate would have it, it seems like there is more for me to do.

After saying my goodbye to Sasuke, the next thing I saw was the Sage of Six Paths, the God of the shinobi world. I kneeled before him, but he told me to rise back up to my feet.

"I have a mission for you Itachi, only you can complete it." Itachi wanted to groan at the thought of another mission but, out of respect and reverence, he heard him out.

"What mission do you need me to complete?" The sage then started to cry. "I am sorry, Itachi. You have lived a hard life, a long one and you deserve to rest, but the world needs you to do one more thing for it."

Itachi wanted to refuse, but the thought of Sasuke being in danger made him accept. He has already proven that he would kill and die for his brother. "What more does the world need of me? I have murdered my entire clan, been marked as a terrorist, and killed by my own brother. I did all of it willingly and still died smiling, but still I can't be in peace. So what more does the world need?"

The sage pointed his staff at Itachi and immediately Itachi felt a surge of power flowing through him, "My child, it is true that you have sacrificed much for this world to remain at peace. Death should be the ultimate release, but I require more of you."

"What more can I do for this world past dying for it." He asked now curious and frustrated about his mission.

"You have already died for the good of the world, but now your mission is to live for the good of the world." The sage then performed a jutsu and soon Itachi felt a great flash before feeling nothing.

"Good luck child, I hope you very well may succeed." The sage then turned towards the Great War happening and continued to observe it.

That's it for the prologue. I'll be uploading chapters from this and my other story on Sunday's from now on. Hope you enjoy and thanks again to Anime hotty lover.18…you rock!

Till next time guys and gals!


	2. Introductions

I'm glad a lot of you enjoyed it so as a treat here goes a quick upload.

I do not own young justice or Naruto.

"Wake up…wake up!" Itachi was starting to regain consciousness from hearing a voice near him. He started to groan as he felt an object poking and prodding his ribs, from how it felt he knew that it was someone's hand doing it.

"Hey! Would you just wake up for Christ sake?" The poking got harder and less gentle, repeating jabbing into his side. Whoever was doing it was either really determined to get him to wake up or really stupid for annoying him like how they were.

"For the last time wake up no-" Before the person could finish the sentence and jab him again, Itachi suddenly reached out and grabbed onto their wrist without even bothering to open his eyes. The person was so shocked at what he had done they had let out a loud shriek in response.

"Hey, it would be for the best if you woke up stranger or it's a pretty good chance that you'll get mugged for your troubles." The voice started to sound a little clearer than before to him. Itachi could surmise that from the high pitch of the voice he was he was probably dealing with a female. He slowly opened his eyes revealing to her their deep onyx color. Itachi then sat up while still keeping a vice grip on the girl's wrist just in case she tried anything.

Itachi then groaned and lifted his free hand to the side of his head to help alleviate the headache he currently had. "Where am I?"

"We're in Gotham City," the girl answered. "Oh and by the way, could you let go of my wrist? I mean really you're cutting my blood circulation." After hearing her request he hesitantly let go but was still cautious of this stranger. He turned to see the face behind the voice and sure enough it was a female that he was talking to. She didn't look like any female he had ever seen in his life time. Both her features and her appearance were foreign to him. He needed to find out where exactly the Sage had sent him. He may have traveled all over the world thanks to working with the Akatsuki, but for some reason this girl and place was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"What land or region does this Gotham City belong to?"

"…Dude, are you actually for real right now?" His silence was more than enough of an answer for her. "You're serious. Oh my gosh, this can't be happening to me right now," the girl started to mutter under her breath. Out of all the strange things she could run into, it had to be a crazy guy who didn't even know where Gotham City was.

"Okay pay attention," she then got Itachi's attention, "Gotham is a city, obviously, and it is located in the state of New Jersey. Please tell me you know what a state is." She again got nothing but silence. "Have you been living under a tree or something for your entire life?"

Itachi was still wary of this girl and her explanation did not put him at ease at all. The Sage must have sent him into the darkest corner of the world because he honestly had no idea where he was. So deciding that he should play it safe for now, he answered her skeptically. "No, I have not been living under a tree. I have no clue how or why I am here. The only thing I know of for sure is that I do not belong on this plane of existence."

 _"…Right…dang this guy is even crazier than I thought,"_ she had thought. She then shook her head and sighed, "Listen here dude, I don't know about this whole plane of existence thing, but what I do know is that you're a homeless guy with nowhere to go."

"I'm not-" He was going to respond but the girl held her hand out to stop him before he got far.

"No, no, no, let me finish. Now being the nice girl that I am, I'm going to offer you a place to stay since you clearly have nowhere else to go. And seeing as how you know next to nothing about Gotham or life in general as it seems, well, you're going to be educated if you wanna survive here. Does that sound cool to you?"

Itachi didn't say anything immediately. He was seriously contemplating whether or not he should say no to the girl and find his own way, but he wouldn't know where to start and his body felt weird ever since the Sage sent him on this mission of his, which he still didn't even know the details of. His only option as of now is to take the girl up on her offer and learn as much as he can about this place before he did anything too drastic.

"I will…accept your offer, but first I must ask something of you."

"Shoot."

"…"

The girl groaned and sighed again, "It means go ahead and ask the question you dolt."

Itachi nodded. "Why are you helping me? I am but a mere stranger to you."

"I am helping you cause I want to. There really isn't any other reason I have or need besides that, but if you really want to know it's because not too long ago I was out here on my own too. It's hard to live in Gotham, especially for people like us who have no home to go back to, I mean I have a home now but that isn't the point I'm trying to make here." Itachi remained stoic on the outside, but inwardly he was smiling at the girl as she was rambling on and on about things he halfway comprehended. To him, she was a pleasant sight after all of the death and darkness he had to see all of his life.

"I understand."

"Good, now let's get moving-"

"You ain't going nowhere sweetheart." The girl turned stiff at the sound of the gruff voice. Itachi looked at her suspiciously, now wondering why she looked so fearful all of a sudden. He looked up and saw a six foot tall, middle sized man standing before them. The man looked like he has been unkempt for weeks thanks to his ruff looking beard. Itachi then saw that the man was holding some weird looking object in his hand. He has seen various types of weapons in his lifetime, but the black metal object that the man was pointing at them was something he had never seen before.

The brunette turned her body slowly whilst trying to avoid the man's gaze as best as she could. "H-Hey it's been a long time Lou. How's it been?" If the fear being emanating wasn't obvious before, it was now. Itachi could feel the fear oozing off of the girl in waves. He didn't need his sharingan to tell him that she was afraid of the man standing before her. Perhaps they had a falling out of sorts, but in the end it was irrelevant because all he knew was that the man held killer intent towards her, and Itachi was not going to let any harm come her way.

"Shut it you brat," Lou spat out, "You've got some nerve showing your face around here after what you did!"

"And what is it exactly that she had done to make you feel so wronged?" Itachi asked causing the brunette to gawk at him in disbelief.

 _"Why couldn't he keep his trap shut!?"_ She thought.

At the sound of his voice Lou finally noticed that another person was in the alleyway with them. "Who the heck are you punk?" He then aimed his gun so that both of them were in his sights.

Itachi stood up from the ground and narrowed his eyes at Lou as he stared him down. "It doesn't matter who I am. My identity isn't what is important at the moment."

"If you know what is good for you, you'd mind your own business. Now beat it punk before I put you down!" To make his point more clear Lou shot a bullet off near Itachi's feet. The girl screamed in shock and went to cover her ears and shut her eyes. Her new companion did not move an inch or show any signs of fear.

"What is wrong with you," she hissed while grabbing his arm roughly. "He'll kill you if try to play hero!" Itachi ignored her though and lightly pulled his arm away from her grasp and walked forward.

Low quirked a brow and started to chuckle, "This guy must either be insane or just plain stupid for thinking he can face me with a gun." He thought. "You must have some sort of death wish. I thought I told you to beat it kid, this is between me and little Carson over there."

"Carson, that's you name right?" Itachi asked while looking back at her. She responded by scrunching up her face in annoyance.

"What's it matter to you? It's nothing special and besides I never really liked my name anyways not that it matters."

"Where I come from, you name is what makes you special. Never forget that and not for nothing but I've never heard of the name Carson so in my eyes; you are special."

Carson's face started to turn red from embarrassment. "W-What?! Dude you obviously have hearing problems."

Itachi remained stoic underneath the hood of his cloak showing that he was serious. Carson was becoming more and more interesting to Itachi the more she spoke. "Why do you persist on making your name sound so insignificant?"

"Because it isn't special okay! Christ, can you just stop doing that," Carson said now peeved and irritated.

"Doing what exactly?" He asked.

"That! Doing that! You keep turning to conversation back on me you jerk!"

"I can't say that I know what you're talking about. According to you, I'm the crazy one. So what does it say about you for listening to me?" He retorted causing the girl to start to become even more agitated.

Lou stared at the two with a look of disbelief, not believing that the two were actually having a argument right in front of him even though he had a gun on them. He growled in anger and shouted out, "Hey! Don't disrespect me like that by having a whole discussion right in front of me. I have a gun and I will end the both of you, understand?"

"Crap, I forgot thanks to that jerk over there." Carson lamented. "Look, Lou I am so sorry. I'll pay you back for everything with what I earned in the past week. It's five hundred eve-"

"The boss don't want your filthy money anymore." Itachi frowned. _"What did he mean by filthy,"_ He thought.

Carson's eyes started to widen. "What? But I thought that was what he wanted from me."

Lou smirked. "Nope, he thought since you bailed out on us that you weren't worth the cash anymore. You are just a loose end and you know what we do to loose ends." He then laughed at her deflated expression at hearing his words. "Oh don't look so sad and pathetic. I know you'll look back at this moment and laugh…in the next life." Before he could pull the trigger though, Itachi appeared in front of him in a flash.

"What the-" But then a swift hand came forth and knocked his gun to the ground. Then Itachi got a vice grip on his wrist and before the man knew what happened, he cried out in pain as his wrist was broken causing a loud crack to be heard.

"Aaaah!" Lou kept screaming out in agony. The bones inside of his wrist were shattered which left his hand virtually useless and hanging limp from his arm.

"I will only say this once because I hate to repeat myself." Lou looked up with shock and fear to see that the guy standing right in front of him had no longer sported the soft look on his face. Now his face looked menacing, but that wasn't what filled Lou with fear; it was his eyes which were red with three tomoe in them that scared him. "If you want to be able to use your other wrist then I suggest you leave now. You had better now bother this girl again, do I make myself clear?"

"S-Screw you-" Itachi grabbed the man's other wrist and tightened his grip on it. "O-Okay! Christ I understand!"

Itachi then glared down at him since the man was having obvious troubles with getting that he was in a losing situation. "Really, because you don't sound like you understand where I am coming from." The grip around Lou's other wrist got so tight he started to cry. He could slowly feel the bones in his wrist start to crack and break.

"Y-Yes I understand! Please, let go of my wrist I'm begging you!"

"Fine, since you begged like the pathetic weakling that you are." Itachi then let go of his wrist, but decided to still knock him out by delivering a powerful spinning right kick to his jaw. Lou was unconscious before he even hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Oh my gosh! Dude you are awesome!" Carson gaped at him in awe. She saw him move but he was so fast he might as well been a blur. As she got over her shoch she made her way over to where he was standing while giving the unconscious man a wary look.

"Don't worry. He's out cold and won't be waking up for quite some time." He said while giving her an assuring look.

Carson gave out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! That guy has been giving me a hard time for so long that I was looking forward to the day that someone gave him a dose of his own medicine. So…aren't you going to ask me about this?"

"I don't see why I would. It isn't of any concern to me and I believe in minding your own business." He stated from under his hood.

Carson blinked. "You mean you don't want to ask anything at all? Like anything, because after what you just did I'd say it is more than fair of you to ask." Itachi shook his head. "Wow, I've never met anyone who was as pushy as you are." She said sarcastically.

"Is your offer still on the table Carson?" He asked wanted to get straight to the point. "U-Uh yeah it is. My apartment isn't too far from here, but let's take the back way. Lord knows if Lou had backup with him while he was looking for me." Carson then turned her head at the sounds of sirens. "Oh man, someone must have heard Lou screaming and called the police. We need to disappear like now!"

"Fine." Itachi then quickly closed the gap between the two and with his usually swiftness he picked her up and prepared to carry her to her place. He heard he squeal when he lifted her and held her close against his chest.

Carson could feel her face heat up again from him holding her so close to his chest. She looked up at him and suddenly felt kind of annoyed that his face was still covered by his hood. "Dude if I'm going to let you stay with me for the time being, then imma need to know who you are first or at least what you even look like. The hood thing is creeping me out."

He didn't say anything at first to her which annoyed her some more. "Can I get an answer?"

"If that is what I need to do, then I will show my face." Itachi then flicked his head back causing his hood to fall back. His long hair was in a ponytail so he could see, but it also let Carson see all of the features of his face. She thought he was very handsome and borderline gorgeous, but it was his eyes that captivated her the most. He was used to being stared at by women on his travels, but Carson was past the staring and was going for the touching part.

"Wow, you are one gorgeous dude," She blurted out. When she realized what she had just said she covered her mouth in shame. Her face started to get redder and redder from what she had just spoken out loud.

"This is so embarrassing!" She thought.

Itachi gave a small smile but still needed to know where he was heading. "I believe now would be a good time to direct me to where your home is."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that…um are going to put me down or w-WHAT!" Itachi had just leaped high into the air to land on top of the building as he sped forward and started to jump from rooftop to rooftop. The scared girl clung to his cloak for dear life while praying that he wouldn't drop her in midair.

After she got the courage to speak, she told him how to get to her apartment. It didn't take long for the both of them to get there thanks to his speed and the lack of traffic thanks to travel by rooftops. "Thank God, we're finally here," Carson huffed out with her facial expression giving out the epitome of exhaustion. She slumped up against the front door of her apartment and went to get her keys from her pockets.

Itachi didn't show too much emotion as he waited for her to fish through her pockets. It was about three minutes later that she finally found the keys and unlocked the door.

"Finally," Carson sighted out as she opened the door. Itachi took a quick peak inside before he entered. He hated going in blind into any situation. It was pretty dark and messy in there. _"She must not like to keep up with tidiness I guess,"_ He thought.

"You have a…nice home." He said while trying to sound as nonjudgmental as possible. Carson looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You're just saying that, right? You don't have you sugarcoat it; I know my place looks like crap." She winked back at him and walked away.

Itachi said nothing as he watched her turn away from him and continue further into the apartment. Having seen the city while on the way here, he didn't feel any more at ease with him being here. "This place might be worse than the Leaf Village in terms of darkness," he thought.

"Make yourself at home…um, dang I guess I never got you name." Carson stuck her head out from the kitchen to see where he was. He was still standing in front of the front door, glancing back and forth between the pictures on the walls and all of the items that were lying on the floor. His face, like always, was unreadable and he always looked like he was in deep thought. The mystery of him made Carson want to get to know him more for some reason, but first she'd start by learning of his name.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, but in this world names don't matter as much according to you." He said while remembering their conversation about names earlier.

Carson gave him a mocking glare but smiled, "So your name is Itachi Uchiha. Are you like Japanese or something?"

Itachi nodded, "Or something."

Carson hummed, "I see, well it is nice to meet you Itachi." She stepped out in front of him and stuck out her hand. "I hope we get along from here on out."

But after he just stood still for a few seconds she got worried, "Um, aren't you gonna shake my hand?" Then his pale hand reached out slowly and grasped hers lightly. To Carson his hand was warm and felt welcoming to her.

"Now that we have been properly introduced," she then used his hand and went to drag him towards the kitchen which took a lot of effort.

He sat down at the table and he began to think about what being here in this place means. Not just in this apartment, but in this city and world in general because he was starting to think that this is not the same place where he originates from.

 _"But why would the Sage tell me I had to save the world, but then turn around and send me into a different one altogether? None of this makes sense except for the fact that the sage says that this mission is of the upmost importance. When it comes to the mission I'll do whatever it takes to see it through and get it done. Maybe perhaps the Sage meant for me to meet this girl but how is she going to help me?"_ He thought and just on cue a loud crash was heard and he looked and saw that she had just dropped some dishes.

"Crap! Those are my good dishes."

Yeah this would take an adjustment and a huge learning curve for Itachi to start to understand how any of this is supposed to fit together.

* * *

That's it for this chapter. I promised I'd keep all of the OC's of the original story so this marks the introduction of the first one. I'll try not to deviate too much from the story and can't wait to continue. Till next time guys!


	3. A Hero's Warning

"Come on please," Carson begged with her hands clasped together in front of her.

"No," Itachi replied with his usual stoic look. The brunette started to pout as she dropped her hands to her sides. She would just have to try again.

"It's not going to hurt or anything, just come on please!" she begged again but this time she clung onto his arm.

Itachi remained silent despite her pleas. His eyebrows furrowed a bit at the childish pout she was giving him. The look in her eyes kind of reminded him of his brother, Sasuke, whenever he wanted something when they were younger. They both had a way of pulling on his heart strings.

Carson kept tugging on his arm over and over, all the while doing and saying whatever she could to get her request granted. She was stubborn and determined to get him to say yes to her, even if she had to annoy him to death to do it. Itachi's expression did not change one bit so Carson knew she needed kick it up a notch.

"I know you don't want to do this, but if you wanna fit in with society you are going to have to compromise. Can't you just try, for me, your new best friend?" Itachi looked down at the girl and noticed that her pout was gone and she had ceased clinging to him. He got skeptical when he looked into her eyes and saw a gleam of mischief in them.

He sighed heavily.

She thought she had him caught in a guilt trap in order for him to give in to her whims, but in reality she was at least three steps behind. He was an Uchiha and she was just a civilian. He would not bend to her will.

"Why do you insist that I do this," he questioned.

"I want you to do this because…because…I REALLY WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE WITH SHORTER HAIR," Carson blurted out, her face now slowly turning red.

Itachi was put off by her answer, but just a bit though. He kind of expected this to come up over the past several days that he's been staying here. It's been about five days since the sage sent him here and five days since Carson has been hammering him with requests to change his appearance. Back in the Leaf Village he used to get compliments from women about his looks all the time. He rarely paid them any mind since he had no interest in outer appearances . He's never been one to care or be concerned with how he looked to them; he only wanted to be a respectable shinobi that showed representation to both his clan and his village. Despite how his life turned out he never felt ashamed of his origin.

" _But in order for the mission to be a success, this place has to be your home now_ ," a voice said to him, sounding oddly like his.

In a way the voice was right. If the sage felt this was necessary in order to save his brother, then he'd do anything that would help contribute to the cause. He sighed now realizing that he would need to compromise. Like Carson said, blending in would be the best way to go and since there aren't too many men with hair like him, he knew he'd stick out like a sore thumb.

"Fine," Carson heard the man mutter. It took her a second or two to finally register the fact that Itachi had finally said yes to her. She grinned widely and started to jump up and down with excitement, moving her arms to cling to him once more. Itachi gave her a look of pure annoyance. " _What have I done?_ " He thought.

"Yes! Oh man I can not wait to get you over to a salon, but first we need to get you a change of clothes." Itachi shook his head at the creepy smirk she was giving him. That look in her eye was not sitting well with him. Not one bit.

* * *

"I knew the outfit would fit you, but wow, I didn't expect my brother's clothes to fit you this good," Carson gawked, eyes sparkling with glee.

In front of her was Itachi in a crimson shirt with a black jacket over it, he had a pair of black slim fit jeans on, a pair of causal black boots, and a chained necklace. She thought Itachi looked absolutely hot in her brother's clothes and as an added bonus, his hair was down. Just the mere sight of him made her want to squeal like a fan girl.

" _James would totally kill me if he saw someone else wearing his clothes, but he's not here so there's no need to dwell on it,"_ Carson thought as she looked at Itachi. She was definitely proud of her work.

"Okay, since the clothes are now taken care of, now all that we need to do is get you to a hair sa-" Carson was cut off by the sound of the door bell ringing. She clicked her teeth. "Ugh, I'll get it. You just stay put alright," she said while making her way out of the room into the hallway. With a quickened pace Carson headed towards the front door. When she finally got there she took a quick peek through the peep hole. Her eyes widened in shock and fear at who she saw on the other side.

"No, no way. Please, not now," she whispered. There standing outside of her door was none other than Lou, who she thought would stop coming to get her after what Itachi did to him the other night. She knew that he knew where she lived; she just didn't expect him to come here...who was she kidding, of course he would come here! She then saw movement behind him which means he probably brought friends with him, who were also armed with guns.

" _Just great,"_ she thought. "I know you're in there sweetheart, come on out or else!"

"I-I can't do that Lou. Y-You're armed," she stammered. Carson cursed under her breath. She didn't want to give the man any leeway because she was scared of him and his gang of thugs. She had a hunch that he didn't come just for her; he most likely came for Itachi too.

Lou gave what was supposed to be a pout but it resembled more of a distasteful smile. "Aw come on sweetheart, I won't shoot you, unless you don't tell me what I want to know of course."

Carson gulped. "And what do you want to know?"

Lou's smile turned into a smirk. "Oh don't play stupid Carson. You know exactly what I wanna know."

She kept silent. Even though he was behind her locked door, she still felt as if he was standing right in front of her with his gun aimed directly at her forehead. The thought alone made her quiver in fear, making her feel helpless. He could break the door down and she wouldn't even be able to move because she was scared.

"Listen here kid, if you don't tell me and my friends where that bastard who hurt me is, my buddies and I are going to break down your door and do some very nasty things to you." The sound of men laughing and guns being cocked were then heard outside.

She didn't know what she was going to do. She would never rat someone out, even if she barely knew that someone.

"One," Lou began the countdown, smirking wildly as he raised his gun to point at the door.

"Two," Carson backed away from her door. She was so stricken with fear that she didn't pay any attention to a shoe lying on the floor behind her. She tripped over it, falling on her butt, yelping out in pain.

"Three,"

" _This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening_ ," she thought while panicking, moving her hands to her head.

"Why are you on the floor?" Carson's eyes widened at the voice and turned around. Standing behind her was Itachi with his classic stoic demeanor. At seeing him, Carson felt a little bit more at ease. She was about to answer him when a thought crossed her mind.

"Yeah, you might wanna skedaddle."

"Why?"

Carson frowned. "You remember that Lou guy, the one you threatened and knocked out last night," Itachi nodded, "well he's back and he brought a few of his thugs with him. He wants to know where you are so he came here to ask me."

"Fine," he replied.

"What is that supposed to mean," Carson asked looking confused. He isn't a man of many words and was a master in the art of the silent treatment. He mostly kept to himself and kept everything private. In the span of five days she's come to not like that part of him that much. It was truly irritating.

She shook her head furiously. Now was not the time to get distracted over stupid things. She needed Itachi to get out of her before it was too late.

"Seriously, you need to leave-" She was interrupted when the sound of a gunshot resonated throughout the apartment. Carson's brown eyes went wide and she quickly turned to look at her front door. The doorknob had a hole in it from the shot.

"Oh no," she muttered, now stricken with fear and panic again. Out of nowhere, Itachi went up in a cloud of smoke and disappeared.

Itachi suddenly appeared outside to confront Lou and his crew which were about five in total, "Well, here I am."

The group of men jumped back in surprise, not expecting for Itachi to appear completely out of nowhere.

"Get him!" Lou yelled,. Itachi was faster than any of them though. He started off by kicking Lou's gun out of his hand. He then parried a goon who tried to rush him from behind. Itachi quickly turned and landed a powerful front kick that had the thug keeled over in pain. Another thug shot off his gun but Itachi anticipated the attack and threw a knife he had grabbed from Carson's kitchen directly at the man. It lodged itself into the man's shoulder causing him to cry out in pain causing him to drop his gun. Itachi finished him off with a straight right cross to his jaw. The other two thugs got the bright idea of double teaming Itachi, but were unsuccessful as he leaped up in the air causing them to collide into each other.

Lou finally got his bearings back and went for his gun but was stopped when Itachi put his foot down on the gun. Itachi kneed him in the face , breaking his nose and and some of his teeth. Lou screamed out in pain, falling to his knees, moving both of is hands to his now broken nose. Blood seeped through his fingers falling to the ground, along with some of his teeth.

"You just don't learn do you," Itachi commented stoically.

"Screw…you…" Lou responded.

"I guess you leave me no choice but to break the other one," Itachi said, his sharigan activating, giving him a much more menacing appeal.

"The other wha-" His sentence was cut off by the sound of his good wrist breaking.

"Aaaaaah! Not my good wrist! Christ, I'm still in a cast from the other night because of you!"

"Then give up before the next set of bones I break of yours turns out to be your neck, either that or next time I suggest you bring more men," He then knocked Lou out before addressing the thugs he didn't knock out. "The reasons you all did not end up like him is because you're going to take this trash back to where you came from and never bother the person who lives here again, understand?"

They both nodded their heads furiously with fear of what he might do to them. "Now you all had better not be out here by the time I come back out."

He poofed away reappearing back inside the apartment while the men furiously scrambled to pick up their friends so that they could leave as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Carson was confused. One second Itachi was next to her then all of a sudden she hears a gun shot outside and a man screaming in pain. She went to her phone and was about to alert the police when Itachi came up behind her and scared her.

"Would you please stop doing that? And where the heck did you go?" she asked, looking him up and down.

"The threat has been eliminated, you're good now." He replied. He gave her a nod and went back to his room.

"..." Carson stared after his departing form in a daze, mentally wondering what in the world just happened.

"Wait, what? Carson blinked a few times in shock and awe. She figured he went out there to handle those guys, but she didn't expect him to do it so fast. This made her wonder where he came from and what he used to do even more. The thought had crossed her mind before but she tried to respect his privacy. That and she was always forgetting to ask him. It's only been five days since she's met him. Just now a thought came to her mind; there were gunshots and screams that had just transpired outside and it more than likely was heard by her neighbors. At least one of them would think to alert the police... which would cause them to show up at her door.

"Oh man! I definitely don't want that to happen! I'm already in way too deep with them as it is!" Carson then bolted to the bedrooms with a look of panic on her face.

"Itachi you dolt, the cops are going to be knocking on my door because of you!"

* * *

 **The next day...**

Itachi sighed as he was lied down on a bed in his temporary room, which was Carson's older brothers room. When he first arrived, she told him that her brother James was no longer living with her so it was alright for him to stay in his room and wear his clothes, though he swore he heard a nervous undertone in her voice like she was lying to him. It's a miracle that the two were the same size.

Right now, he was currently reflecting on everything that has happened in the past five days. It started with him waking up and meeting Carson, then it was the encounter he had with this Lou character shortly after. After that he wound up being invited to stay with her which led to the incident that happened yesterday. But to him, the worst of it all was getting his haircut. He only got a few inches cut off and he knew he could always grow it back, which he intended to, but still the compromise of it all left him sad and really made it sink in that he wasn't home anymore. Who was he kidding. He hasn't been home since he left the village after killing the whole Uchiha clan. He's been a vagabond since he was thirteen years old but that was all by choice, which gave him closure. This whole mess he was in now was not by his own choice and that made it hard for him to accept it all.

Itachi's thoughts were interrupted by a rather loud knock on the bedroom door. "Itachi! Hey, you alive in there," he heard Carson shout from the other side of the door. She was insistently pounding on the door and causing a lot of noise. If she kept it up her neighbors would undoubtedly make a complaint, again.

Itachi shook his head and got up to head towards the door. He opened the door and the girl rushed in with a large grin on her face. Her grin was oozing with excitement and was almost infectious, almost being the key word.

But what he did know was that something good must have happened to her.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what?!" Carson was jumping up and down in front of him.

Her behavior was beginning to tire him but he decided he would still humor her. "What is it," he asked callously.

"I just got a call from my brother. He said he's going to be coming home in a few days to see how I'm doing. Isn't that great," Carson announced happily. She was practically glowing with joy and excitement.

Itachi looked at her with a constant look of indifference. "Did you mention me when you spoke with him?" All of a sudden the girl stopped her euphoric excitement and her smile turned into a frown.

"Uh huh, here's the thing though, I didn't really think to say anything about you staying here." Carson mumbled her words under her breath and was hesitant about looking up at him for fear of his reaction. When she finally did look up she was expecting a glare from him, but what she got was his usual stoic look. She blinked, "Um, aren't you mad or upset?"

Itachi shook his head. "It is best that you not mention that I am here. The less people who know about me, the better."

Carson stayed silent and nodded her head in response. Now that she thought about it, maybe it was better that she didn't tell her brother about Itachi. Seeing as how James was military and a man of discipline, telling him that a stranger was living with her wouldn't end so well, not only for her but for Itachi too. She grimaced at the thought of his reaction, if he ever found out. He would definitely kill them both.

"Yeah, telling him wouldn't be good at all. Maybe you should hangout around the neighborhood while he's visiting, or maybe you can stay at my neighbor's place until he leaves. Paula and her daughter Artemis don't get that many visitors so maybe that'll be good for them." She trailed off when she noticed the time on her watch.

"Oh come on, its 8:58," she rushed out of the room almost tripping over her feet. "I'm going to be late for work!" She ran towards her room across the hall and shut the door.

From where he was standing, Itachi could hear the sounds of bumping and scraping coming from her room. He shook his head at the sound of her scream. "Where's my phone," he heard her mutter to herself. Her behavior reminded him of Tobi and Hidan. Those two always made constant noise that would grate on the other Akatsuki members nerves.

The more time that passed, the more he was starting to grow accustomed to his new living situation. Even though he's only known Carson for about five and a half days, it's pretty safe to say he's never met anyone with a personality as unique as hers, and he was partners with Kisame. Whether it was his clan, parents, or his best friend Shisui, none of them gave him the same genuine feeling of warmth that Carson has. The only comparison he had was whenever he was with his brother, Sasuke. But he knew he might not ever be able to see him again, so he would try to cope by moving on in this new world, even if if was the sage that sent him here against his will.

* * *

It was currently 10:58 a.m and Carson was at her job in Carla's Café located in the Gotham Narrows. "Here you go sir, a strawberry parfait with a side of extra fruit, along with a cheese omelet with basil," Carson smiled as she placed down both of the customer's orders. The customer was a man in his late fifties, wearing a light brown suit. He smiled back at her as he accepted his food.

"Thank you so much."

Carson nodded. "You're welcome. Enjoy!" She smiled at him again and walked back to the kitchen. She sighed as she pushed the double doors open and made her way towards the chef.

The chef is a female in her mid to late twenties with bright red, chin length hair and light green eyes. She looked up and smiled as the younger girl walked past her.

"You're doing well today sweetie," she mused. Carson rolled her eyes at the compliment though and slumped down on a stack of metal pans. She sighed heavily. "You might think so but I totally messed up on the first two tables. The old guy was just a lucky one."

"Oh don't be so hard on yourself dear. You didn't do so bad on the first two customers, in fact, the first one gave you a tip from what I recall."

Carson scoffed. "I don't think twenty-five cents can be considered a tip."

"You still got something out of it though, right? Come on sweetie look on the bright side." The woman gave the girl a wink and a grin. Carson didn't return the smile though.

"There is no bright side Carla," Carson retorted.

Carla frowned. "Okay, what's got you so hot and bothered hun? You've been looking anxious all morning."

Carson debated on whether or not she should tell her. She hated talking about her private life at work, but having someone to talk to about it would definitely take a load off her conscious.

"I…I've got this problem."

"A problem? What kind of problem?"

"Um, well, you see I kinda sorta brought this guy home about five and a half days ago."

"A guy, as in a male? Why would you do that?"

Carson began to twiddle her thumbs nervously. "Well, he had nowhere else to go, and seeing as how I have extra room at my place, I thought maybe he could crash there for a bit, until he can get his own place."

"Honey that was very kind of you but it was also stupid as well. You know how dangerous it is in Gotham. This guy could be a serial killer for all we know, or even a rapist."

"I know I know, but there was just something about him that made me do it. He seemed, different, like outside of Gotham different," Carson spoke as she looked down at her lap. She would have never pegged Itachi as a bad person considering in all of the days she had known him he hasn't given her one reason to call the cops, and he was endearing in a silent kind of a way, though his recluse attitude and habit of ignoring her was annoying.

Carla was confused by Carson's answer. The way she answered made it sound like a teenage girl slowly falling in love, if that's how she wanted to put it. She was going to call her out on it but decided against it since Carson would most likely deny her claim.

"If you say so, but just remember that you need to be cautious. Not everyone is as trustworthy as you may think they are."

"Yeah…I know." Carson hugged herself as she was thinking about bad memories. She had had her fair share of run-ins with people that she thought she could trust; people like Lou. Just then gunfire was heard coming from inside the restaurant. "Was that gunfire?" She asked.

The next sound she heard were the screams of the people outside of the double doors and the angry shouts of whoever was shooting.

"Oh God," she heard Carla gasp in shock as she stared out the window of one of the double doors. "They're headed back here," she breathed out in panic and started to slowly back away from the stove.

She was right. Two men wearing very familiar looking black skull masks came rushing through the double doors, fully armed with AR-15's in their hands.

"We need to go now," Carson said snapping the older woman out of her panic. Carla still looked frightened though.

"But-"

"No buts. Carla we need to go before they get-"

"I don't think so." Carson froze in her spot. She felt something press against her back. She started to panic as she felt the tip of a gun press against her. A feeling of dread washed over her causing a cold sweat to come over her. She looked over to her boss who was now being held captive by two more guys in black skull masks. She was pushed to the floor by one of them as the other held his gun to her head.

"Now, are you two lovely ladies going to play nice with us or are we going to have to do this the hard way," the thug behind her said as he pressed the gun further into her back.

"I'd rather die than play nice with scum like you," Carson blurted out. She quickly moved to cover her mouth before she said anything else that could get her shot.

"Is that so, that's just unfortunate."

"Carson!" Carla shrieked out in shock, watching as one of the men his Carson on the back of her head with the blunt of his gun.

Carson screamed out in pain and moved her hands to cover her head. The thug did not like screamers though.

"You better keep that mouth of yours shut, or else! You hear me, four eyes?!

Carson nodded. If she wanted to avoid another hit, then shutting her mouth was the best way to go.

"The boss said not to kill anyone yet so you should count yourself lucky"

"Yeah, I feel so lucky." Carson thought as she felt a knot starting to form on her head. If she got out of this situation alive, she was definitely going to need some ice and some aspirin.

"Alright ladies get moving!" Both her and Carla were corralled towards the entrance of the kitchen to the dining hall of the café where the screams and whimpers of the other hostages could be heard. _"Since the guy said no one was going to be killed yet, maybe that meant that everyone would be spared…hopefully."_ Carson thought.

Once they were in the dining area Carson could see all of the other captives huddled together. She felt her heart start to break when she saw a woman cuddling her baby close to her chest. She could tell that the woman was crying, not in fear for herself but out of concern for her baby. She turned her head away. She just couldn't bare to see that anymore, it was too much to look at.

"Get over there," a thug said as he pushed them down to the floor.

"Ugh," Carson groaned as she fell on her knees. When she finally settled down on the floor she heard the unpleasant sound of her black stockings ripping.

"Oh no, I just got these the other day!"

Carla turned and glared at the girl. "This is neither the time nor the place to be worried about that," She scolded.

Carson winced at her tone. It was rather petty to be complaining about ripped stockings when they were in a situation far worse. "Sorry. So, what do you think they want? I haven't heard them make any demands."

"Me neither, but we would be wise to keep silent. I don't want either of us to be focused upon." Carson nodded. She had already been struck by the blunt end of one of their guns and she would really prefer if for it not to happen again, or worse for that matter.

One of the thugs fired a shot into the ceiling to get everyone's attention, "Alright listen up! I'm only going to ask this once and if no one gives me and my friends the answers we want, we'll start putting holes in all of you! Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded their heads out of fear. The guy looked pleased with the response. "Good. Now our boss has had a few checks go missing from his personal safe. A member of our crew said that the one responsible is a squealer who used to work for one of our lower ranking crews; a young girl."

"Oh crap," Carson cursed under her breath. Carla looked at her as if she was silently asking what was wrong but Carson shook her head saying that it was nothing. Carla's eyes lingered on her for a few more moments until she sighed and returned her attention back to the man who was currently speaking. "Of all of the guys to catch her, it just had to be Black Mask's personal team of thugs. They're more like Neanderthals than anything I've ever seen in my life. They're so despicable for doing this! They're holding a café full of people hostage, not even the owner is safe," Carson thought as she eyed the armed men who were blocking all of the exits.

"A little birdie told us that they've seen her come in and out of this place. And as it turns out, she even works here, so…are you gonna give yourself up or not kid, because if the answer to that is no-" he walked over to the woman cradling her baby and pointed his gun towards them, "they will die and it will be all your fault." He started to cackle out loud.

"This is so awful," Carson heard Carla whisper next to her. Carson had a feeling something like this would eventually happen if she kept up with her thefts. For so long she's been hiding behind the façade of a normal life, a life that her brother had given to her after what happened to her family years ago. But there were times in their lives that James wasn't able to provide as much as he wanted to. They lived in the slums of Gotham and the pay for an apartment there was unbelievable. She just wanted to help contribute, even if that meant working with the lowest of the low.

It seems like karma has caught up with her, and innocent people were going to suffer because of her transgressions.

"Oh please, I'm begging you! Shoot me! Please don't hurt my baby," the woman cried out while struggling with all her might as the man tried to take her child away. The captives next to her screamed in terror as the woman was shot and her baby was taken. The cries of the now motherless child echoed throughout the cafe. The captives shrieked in shock, staring at the dead body of the woman next to them.

"Oh no, this is so cruel," Carla whispered.

"If you don't come out now, then I promise this baby won't live to see tomorrow!"

Carson clenched her eyes shut. _"What am I going to do? I don't want an innocent baby to die! Its mother is already dead! If he did anything to the child I'd never forgive myself."_ She thought.

"Carson," she felt a tap on her shoulder, "It's going to be alright," Carla said to reassure her.

Carson looked conflicted and shook her head. "No, it won't be alright."

"What?" Carson turned and looked at her boss. The look on her face was quickly recognized by Carla right away. It was a look of guilt.

"You, you're the one they're after, aren't you?" Carla said with a look of shock and betrayal. "Please tell me this isn't true, please."

"I wish it wasn't, but it is. I'm the one they're after." Carson looked down at the floor underneath her knees and felt nothing but shame. She really didn't want her boss to know but the situation left her with no choice.

"If you turn yourself in there's no doubt that they'll kill you." Carson nodded. "I know, but I don't want anyone else to die because I was desperate and stupid. I can't be a coward and let a child die." In her mind it was better to save someone rather than be saved by someone.

She was about to stand up but was jerked back by Carla who looked at her anxiously. Her green eyes were beginning to well up as she stared at the girl.

"Please, don't do this."

"I need to. It's the right thing to do." She pulled her arm out of Carla's grasp and slowly began to stand up. This drew attention to her by both the captives and the thugs.

The leader of the group smirked. "So, you're the girl we've been looking for, huh?"

"Yes, that's me." She answered feeling fearful for her life. The thug handed the baby to one of the captives and walked over to Carson.

The masked man looked the girl up and down and gave a disappointed sigh. To him she wasn't much of a looker, in fact she was really plain. He began to wonder just how in the world a kid like her stole from the likes of Black Mask. He couldn't see this four eyed, teenage girl with no figure and pale skin being a thief. But they were in Gotham though; a thief could be anyone in this city, even this kid standing before him.

"Listen here kid; the boss wasn't too happy about you stealing his money. Not. One. Bit. But now that we've found you, we can properly punish you now." All of the thugs in the café started to cock their guns in preparation for what would happen next. Carson was determined to put up a brave front and show no fear. If they indeed killed her today, she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of breaking her will beforehand.

"Bring her over here," the leader ordered in a loud booming voice.

"Now don't struggle," the thug closest to her grabbed her upper arm and pulled her away from Carla and the other hostages.

"That hurt," Carson yelped when the man tightened his grip on her. The thug threw her down to the ground in front of his boss and took a step back with his gun at his hip.

Carson then felt something metal and cold touch her forehead. She didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that it was a loaded gun.

"Didn't your mom ever teach you not to touch what wasn't yours?" She heard him ask. Carson didn't answer him. The leader took her silence as disrespect and slapped her with his free hand. It was a hard enough slap that knocked her glasses right off her face. When he asked her another question she gave him the silent treatment again, which got her another slap across the face. She felt the stinging pain of his hand over and over again but for some reason she stayed silent. Something was stopping her from saying anything.

"Now I'm going to ask you another question, but this time if you don't answer me instead of slapping the spit out of you, I'll just shoot you dead. Do you understand me?"

Carson stayed silent but gave a nod. "Good, now who is the man who took down Lou Valentine and his crew?"

This is the one question she was not expecting to hear, and coincidentally she feared it the most. Of course he'd ask about Itachi but she wasn't willing to divulge any information about him at all. She was no snitch, especially for those she considered a friend, and even though she barely knew him, she considered Itachi her friend. She thought he felt the same way about her too. There was little doubt at all about her feelings concerning this as far as she was concerned. She had to protect him.

"So what's it gonna be kid? You gonna answer or what, because my finger is getting tired resting on my gun's trigger." Carson could hear the trigger slowly being pulled back.

She knew that protecting him meant that she'd die, but she didn't care. "I…I'm not going to tell you anything, so do your worst," She blurted, looking up to glare at the man with defiance in her brown eyes.

"Is that so, that's too bad then." The man grabbed her by the back of her hair and started to drag her towards the far end of the café. All of the hostages looked on as the man dragged a screaming Carson and they felt fearful for her life.

Carson was scared out of her mind. She tried to think of some way to get out of this, but each thought led to her death. She really didn't want to die.

The man threw her to the ground and aimed his gun towards her face, and he was point blank so if he shot, it definitely would leave a mess.

"P-Please don't kill me," Carson begged as she started to shed tears of fear and regret.

"Sorry, you had your chance kid. All you had to do was answer one simple question but you refused. It's time to die now."

She then started sobbing. She wasn't ready to die. Her brother was coming home soon and if he found out that she was murdered, he'd be devastated and would blame himself for it. She really didn't want to see him go through that kind of pain like how they did with their parents. She also wished she got to know Itachi more. She never really got the chance to ask him where he's from or what made him come to Gotham. She was curious about his family and where they were. She wanted to know how he could do all of the amazing things she saw the other day. She just wanted to get to know him more, but it looks like she's never going to get that chance.

"Game over kid."

" _Help me Itachi!"_ Was her last thought before the man fired his gun.

Authors Note: Sorry for the long update. The holidays kept me busy but I'll try to update the next one faster. And to answer a review that asked why I went with taijutsu over Itachi's specialty which is genjutsu; the reason is because Itachi is in a new world that he is unfamiliar with so he is going to try to conceal his Uchiha powers for as long as he can until he can get an accurate read on the new Earth he's been sent to. But it won't be long before the situation arises that causes him to reveal his abilities so stay tuned! Till next time guys and gals!


	4. Nothing's Changed

Itachi didn't have a very compulsive personality. He tended to want to keep to the status quo and never deviate from the plan. But if he was being honest, he'd admit that his choice to follow Carson to her work place was completely random and in fact compulsive. He was truly curious about just what goes on in her daily life because he had mixed feelings about her. On one hand, he thought she was a charitable and kind girl, but on the other he knew there was something dark that she was hiding about her past. He normally wouldn't pry or care about it, but considering the fact that these secrets are causing men to come to her home or stalk her into dark alleyways, he felt that the best course of action would be to find out why.

He originally planned on checking it out by using his sharingan on her, but his better judgment told him to wait it out first and see if she comes out clean. Even though she very well may turn out to be a genuinely good person, Itachi was not willing to leave it to chance, which is why he is currently standing atop a building across from her workplace.

So far, he found that she led a boring life and wasn't too good at her job just by how she painstakingly took peoples orders or how she fumbled with their food.

" _What am I doing here_ ," he thought. He saw Carson mingle with a customer and head to the back of the café. From his vantage point, she didn't have a look of someone with an ulterior motive nor did she seem untrustworthy either.

He was about to turn and leave when he saw a suspicious black van pull up next to the café. The door slid open and revealed about a dozen different sized men wearing all black clothes and black masks. What put Itachi on high alert was that they all had guns on them.

Itachi narrowed his eyes when he saw them force their way into the restaurant. He heard the patrons inside screaming and the armed thugs yelling for them to be silent. The hostages were then gathered together in a large group in the middle of the café as more and more of the men went inside.

Itachi contemplated on whether or not it was his place to interfere and put a stop to this. As much as he despised men like this, he knew that this was not his world and that the smart thing to do would be to stay low and wait until the police arrived. Carson did mention that this world had people with extraordinary abilities who stop criminals like this on a daily basis. They were called superheroes. He admired the title, but he knew he was no super hero, he was sent to be a savior.

He then spotted one of the men dragging two people towards the front of the restaurant. Itachi narrowed his eyed when he recognized one of the people being dragged. It was Carson and the other was a red headed woman. They were put into a circle with the other hostages and had guns pointed at them immediately. He figured they were being told what would happen to them if any of them tried to do something stupid like fight back.

This was a really bad situation that they were in. A lot of people were in danger, including Carson. Even though he felt he had cause for pause, he knew that if someone didn't help them quickly then this could end badly. He started to calm down though when a thought came to mind.

"The heroes of this city will show up, there is no need for my interference," he tried to assure himself but he knew that time was winding down. If something didn't happen soon, then they would all die. The thought of seeing Carson dead did not sit well with him at all.

He chose to wait for a couple of minutes to see if the police or a hero would show up. If no one came, then he'd deal with this himself.

* * *

After about eight minutes of watching, Itachi was on edge. On the outside he stayed stoic and cold looking but in his head he really was starting to get anxious. The situation had gone from bad to tragic. One of those crazed mad men shot a woman dead in cold blood and then took her baby hostage. He was most likely threatening to kill the baby too unless their demands were met.

"It seems it doesn't matter what world I go to, there will always be darkness and hate."

He felt horrible for letting the baby's mother die, he felt responsible. His father once told him that in the eyes of the victim, the third party is just as guilty as the oppressors. To just sit there and do nothing is the same as pulling the trigger yourself. He let that mad man kill that woman and he'd have to live with that. It's not like he hasn't seen a woman killed before though. When he killed off his clan all those years ago, that included innocent women and children. He left no stone unturned. But that was for a purpose, they didn't die in vain without a cause. The woman lying on the floor dead lost her life for no reason whatsoever and that bothered Itachi, much more than it should.

Minutes later he looked inside and saw Carson stand up from the huddled group of hostages with a frightened yet determined look on her face. She was then grabbed by the arm and pulled towards what Itachi guessed was the leader of this group of criminals. He then pointed his gun at her head and began to speak. After a while he began slapping her hard across her face and berating her. Itachi's patience was wearing thin.

"If someone doesn't show up now…"

"Itachi!" When he heard her shout out his name and saw that the man was about to kill her, Itachi jumped into action. He sprinted into the café at blinding speed and tackled the man into the back of the café.

To the others it seemed like the leader had just vanished into thin air to which Carson was relieved for but when she thought about it more she thought she recognized whoever that blur was, " _Was that Itachi?"_

Itachi was now in the back of the café with the leader of these mad men. The thug quickly recovered and went to shoot Itachi but he was too slow and was almost instantly put under genjutsu. Itachi felt it was appropriate since the man liked to sensibly murder people. The crook started shoot his gun at Itachi but the bullets would be slowed down and deteriorated before ever reaching him. The man looked down at his gun and yelped when he saw it turn into a crow and start to attack him.

He went towards the door but saw the handles melt away and the door become riddled with sharingan eyes. He turned and saw Itachi with the same eyes, staring him down menacingly.

"What is happening to me? What are you," he yelled out to no one. He did a double take and saw that Itachi was gone. He quickly went to try to escape but the kitchen soon turned into a nightmare world filled with evil kitchen utensils attacking him. His face was getting scratched up and his clothes were getting ripped to shreds. He yelled out in pain and fear.

"Stop this! Fight me like a man!" Itachi then appeared behind the man. He turned and struck Itachi but the punch went right through him. Itachi struck him with a right cross that dropped him instantly. The crows inhabiting this nightmare world then started to pounce on and attack the thug. The man was helpless as his body was so violently devoured. The last image he saw was Itachi with blood dripping from his eyes.

Itachi, having been satisfied with the result, released the genjutsu when the man was lying unconscious on the floor. He knew his job wasn't over though because there were still about eleven men left, all of which had guns and seemed trigger happy.

After seeing him take their leader in a flash, he was surprised no one came back here to check it out, but then again maybe he wasn't surprised; they all seemed like the cowardly type. They would shoot at the smallest sign of trouble. That gave him an idea.

* * *

"I-Itachi is that you," Carson whispered as she looked on at the spot where her would be killer used to stand. She was brought out of her stupor when she heard a man scream from the kitchen. There was then a rumbling and then out of the blue there was nothing but silence.

Everyone, including Carson, stared on in fear. Everyone had their mouths agape in shock, very much surprised at what they saw, well none of them could really say they saw anything besides a blur. Soon after came the screams of the very man that had disappeared. It sounded like a murder was going on behind those double doors.

A few minutes passed by, and without warning, the lights went out. There was zero visibility in the café. The thugs got worried and scared as more time quickly passed by, and with no trace of their leader to be found. The door to the kitchen opened up revealing a dark looking silhouette. Because it was dark they couldn't see whether or not it was their leader. It wasn't until it spoke that they knew it wasn't their leader.

The figure said, "Leave now. If you stay here and choose to shoot, I promise that you will not be shown any mercy.

Carson's lips quirked at the sound of that familiar masculine voice. " _Itachi came to save me,_ " she though feeling tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.

Itachi looked Carson's way and saw that she was safe, and from the smile on her face she looked very much glad that he was here. He tilted his head at the small glint in her eyes mentally filing that look away for later. Right now he had something else to focus on and that was getting Carson and the other hostages out of this situation alive.

One of the masked men responded, "I don't know who you think you are, but you made a big mistake in coming here! Light him up boys!" All of the men propped up their guns and began to shoot at mysterious figure. It stood there still, getting lit up like a Christmas tree. There was the sound of a thud soon after, with the figure now lying on the floor.

Carson cried out in horror as seeing Itachi being murdered. She started to weep and wail when one the masked men walked over to her cockily. "Aw, you thought he was going to save you," he pulled out a knife from his pocket. "Sucks for you."

He went to stab her but before he could a knife was plunged into his arm. He turned in shock and saw that the knife a come from the figure they thought was dead. The rest of the men turned back to the figure to see that Itachi was still standing. Since the lights were still out the iridescence of Itachi's sharingan lit up the room. The cold look in his eyes sent a shiver down the thugs' spines.

It was then that they finally saw what they really shot. Next to Itachi, laying stone cold dead on the floor was their leader. His corpse was riddled with bullet holes, with blood oozing out of them onto the floor. Carson, the thugs and the hostages stared down at the dead body in confusion and fear.

"But we shot you! Why is the boss dead and not you?!"

Itachi responded as he raised his right index finger at the thugs, "Because you shot him of course. Though you shot at me but what you didn't see was that I was using your leader as a human shield just in case you all didn't heed my warning. Now, because of you, two people lay here deal. I believe it's time for you all to face the consequences of your actions."

His plan worked to perfection. Once he took out the lights, he knew that these mad men wouldn't hesitate to shoot first without evaluating the situation at all. Now since they used all of their bullets in shooting their boss, he had free reign to fight without trepidation of them threatening a hostage.

He rushed them and one by one took them all down. They tried to fight back but Itachi's sharingan coupled with his taijutsu was too great for them to overcome. From corkscrew kicks to roundhouse punches, to flying knees to critical palm strikes, Itachi physically dominated them. One of them tried to grapple Itachi, but ended up with his arm broken in three places and then was thrown at the wall hard. Before they knew it there was only one thug left standing. He took his knife out and went to stab Itachi. The guy's form was sloppy and too obvious, leaving so many openings, so Itachi didn't even need his eyes to parry, disarm, and then use that knife to stab him in the shoulder. The masked man cried out in pain as the blood started to flow down his arm dripping down to the floor. Itachi delivered a spinning left kick to the man's head which broke his mask and knocked him out cold.

"Wow," Carson remarked in shock and awe. It was a blur but she was still able to see the thugs being decimated by her friend. She looked up at Itachi and he turned to look at her. They smiled at each other with Carson's cheek's turning a light pink. Once Itachi realized that he was smiling at her he quickly looked away out of embarrassment. He tightened his hands into fists as his face returned to its usual stoicism.

The hostages slowly got up from the floor, still looking quite out of it from being threatened. They all either chuckled in relied or cried that the horror was finally over.

"Carson," Carla bawled out in tears, running up to Carson and throwing her arms around her. She almost lost her balance from the woman throwing herself at her.

"I was so worried for you! I thought you were going to die," the red woman tightened her hold on the girl as she cried harder. Carson was shocked that her boss was so worried about her.

She sighed and gave the woman a pat on the back. "I'm fine Carla, really. If Itachi hadn't of come when he did then I **would** be dead right now. A lot of us would." She shivered at the thought. Thank the good lord for small miracles like having a ninja for a roommate.

Carla pulled back from hugging Carson keeping her hands on her shoulders. She gave the girl a stern look with tears leaking from her eyes as she looked on. "You should have told me about this sooner! If I had known that Black Mask was after you I would have let you stay with me and my husband. He is a lieutenant in the GCPD you know."

How could she forget? Her boss would always bring him up and brag about him being the best policeman in the GCPD. Whenever Carla wasn't bragging she was fussing at Carson about moving out of her apartment and into a stable home, with her. Carla knew why she couldn't do that though.

Carson was about to remove the woman's hands from her shoulders but saw how intently her boss was staring at her. She had a weird look in her eyes, a look that threw the brunette off for a bit as they stood there in silence. After a while she finally spoke.

"I don't want to tell you how to live your life, I know enough about trying to be independent, but please know this," Carla took her hands off of the girls shoulders and took a small step back, "Getting involved with scum like Black Mask will never right the wrongs that your mother caused your family."

No one else, besides Itachi who was standing not too far from them, saw the pure look of hatred cross Carson's face. That same look reminded Itachi of his younger brother, Sasuke. The look of pain and misery swam through her eyes, a look Itachi was very familiar with, though he wondered how on earth Carson of all people would be able to pull off a look like that.

"I don't want to talk about my mother," both Carla and Itachi heard the girl mutter under her breath. Her tone sounded so hateful and cold.

"But-"

Carson glared at the red headed woman. "No! I do not want you to say another word about that woman! She was never a mother to me and quite frankly she will never be a mother to me. It's too late for that." And that was the end of that conversation. She walked out of the café, walking away without another word to be said.

"I…I shouldn't have mentioned her mother, what a dumb mistake," Carla said sorrowfully. Her eyes were filled with regret and sympathy. Itachi saw something else in her gaze as well…pity.

He normally would keep quiet and stay to himself, but what just transpired left him confused and curious. "If you knew mentioning her mother would hurt her, then why did you-"

"Bring it up," Carla finished for the young man. She looked back at Itachi whose face was still shrouded thanks the hood of his jacket. "She hasn't told you anything about her family, has she?"

Itachi shook his head. "I see…your name is Itachi right?" He nodded at her. "Since she has met you, you're all she talks about. Itachi this, Itachi that, I swear you're in that girls head more than the food on our menu which she supposedly memorized, though I highly doubt she remembers it all."

Itachi didn't know how to respond to her so he decided to stay silent.

Carla laughed. "Wow, she said you were the silent type but I didn't expect for you to be this quiet." The woman's chuckles died down until she stopped, then she spoke. "Hey, I have a request for you if it's not too much trouble."

He looked on as she walked up to him, grabbed his right hand with both of hers and looked up at him with desperation in her eyes.

"Please keep looking after her. I'm scared that if she stays on this path that she's on now, she might find herself in even more trouble, or even dead." Itachi closed his eyes. Death was a burden to a lot of people, something to fear. But to Itachi, death was a release. It was a sign that his mission was finally over. At first, he looked back at his death with discomfort and regret. He wished his life could have gone differently, that he could have had a normal life with his clan and his brother. Death was a sign that his story was over. But Carson, she was a sign that his life had another chapter to it. She was naïve to just about anything besides what she's seen with her own eyes, which to him was virtually nothing. He could tell that this world still had dangers out there that he had yet to experience, and the thought of his friend falling prey to those dangers, and dying...it made him feel sick to his stomach just thinking about it. He felt uneasy.

The unease was because death wasn't always as peaceful of a release as some might think it is. He has seen and caused more death than anyone his age should ever have to. He murdered his entire clan and joined a terrorist group whose main goal was to gain complete control of the world by collecting all of the Bijuu. He joined the Akatsuki because it was part of his mission given to him by the Third Hokage, to spy on and relay intel on the group just in case they became a threat to the Hidden Leaf Village. He did it all for the purpose of keeping his brother safe. Seeing her die, would be the same as him seeing his brother die. It would break whatever was left of his humanity.

It would hurt that much because he was beginning to feel a bond form with her. He hasn't figured out what that bond actually meant, but he cared for her like he would his village or his brother.

Itachi looked down at the woman and opened his eyes again. He gave her a nod and she sighed in relief to his answer and let his hand go.

"Thank you. It means a lot to know that someone like you is watching over her." Carla gave him a broad smile. She gave him a pat on the shoulder and then went over to where some of her customers were standing.

Itachi went over to the corpse of the woman who was killed before having her baby taken. An old couple was tending to the crying baby as Itachi looked over its mother. He felt shame and regret for letting her die and silently vowed he'd never stand by and let something like this happen again. He closed her eyes shut and said a silent prayer before leaving in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

Carson had been walking down the sidewalk from the café for about fifteen minutes. She had tears running down her eyes and her nose was running. She even had to take off her glasses so they wouldn't get fogged up. A low whimper escaped her lips as she continued to walk. Guilt and anger filled her heart.

"I can't believe they took that baby's mother away from it….all because of me. And why, of all the things to bring up, why did it have to be her," Carson uttered in a hurt voice. She couldn't get the image of the woman's cold dead eyes out of her head. The only thing that over shadowed the guilt she felt was the anger she had towards Carla. Carla knew how she felt about her mother, she told her time and time again to never mention her because she was dead to her. Hearing someone bring up her mother made her break out into tears, angry tears. Her mother was the sole reason why she was in so deep with the Black Mask and his crew in the first place.

She stopped in front of a window that had small to large sized televisions on display. She stepped closer to the window to see a reflection of herself. She frowned at the image that she saw.

She looked horrible. The right side of her glasses were chipped, her forehead and cheeks were bruised from being hit, her arms had marks on them from when one of the masked men grabbed her roughly, her black stockings were ripped along with the apron that was tied around her waist, and her hair, it was an utter disaster. Her hair was all over the place and it made her look like she belonged in Arkham. She literally looked like one of the many patients that were imprisoned there with her disheveled appearance.

Carson was utterly horrified. She started to cry harder. She looked absolutely awful, and she left out of the café looking like this?

"Unacceptable," she said under her breath shakily.

"What's unacceptable," a familiar voice asked from behind her. Carson jumped up in surprise with a small squeal coming out of her. With her glasses still off she quickly wiped her face with her hand before putting her them back on. She turned around and narrowed her brown eyes as she looked at her friend.

"Dude, you scared me." Itachi gave her an apologetic look as he removed his hood and walked closer to her.

"I'm sorry Carson," he apologized, moving his hand to touch her forehead. He stopped mid motion once he realized what he was about to do. He stepped back and returned his hands to his sides. He kept his stoic expression on his face so as not to give away anything. He really had no clue what he was about to do.

Carson blinked and wondered what was wrong but she decided to let it go. "You should be. I was attacked by armed thugs not too long ago and if I had kept walking home looking like this I would have been attacked again…sorry," she mumbled moving a piece of loose hair behind her ear, "I don't mean to sound so irritated, but…it's just that being in that kind of situation and seeing what I saw took a lot out of me. You can understand that can't you?"

Itachi nodded at her. Carson shook her head at him.

"Words! Itachi use words for once please!" Itachi smirked at her when he heard her groan.

"You know what, fine, whatever; let's just get out of here. I don't want to be questioned by the cops today." Itachi nodded, grabbing a hold of her and lifting her up into a bridal hold. Carson blushed at his forwardness but soon got past it when she felt him leap up into the air to the top of the building they were closest to. She clutched onto him tightly as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. This type of travel was still all new to her, and she doubted whether or not she would ever get used to it. But she knew eventually she'd have to get over her fears, or else….

"Would you like to talk about it," Itachi asked suddenly bringing the girl out of her thoughts.

"Talk about what? Oh…you must mean how I got involved with scum like Black Mask, don't you." It was more a statement then a question.

Itachi nodded. Carson stared at him for a second before sighing. She was never going to get any type of clear answer from him, no matter what she asked him it was going to be the same response. She lightly tapped her knuckles against his forehead while smirking up at him.

"Once we get back to my place then maybe I'll tell you…just be ready for a sob party," her smirk slowly faded from her face and was replaced with a melancholy stare.

"I'll listen to you," Itachi said, "if you want me to of course." For a second Carson thought she saw something in his dark onyx eyes, something distant and strange. She was no stranger to seeing weird things, she lived in Gotham after all, but there was a glint in his eyes that told her that he has suffered too. It wasn't clear as day but it was just visible enough to where she could see the darkness in him. She just hoped that he didn't act on that darkness.

* * *

Robin enjoyed his job as Batman's sidekick. He honestly did, but when the man makes a big deal about getting something done fast enough then that's when he gets annoyed, just never openly though.

Now here they were investigating _Carla's Café_ , a quaint little place owned by a woman named Carla. A few hours ago there was a raid by some of Black Mask's men. They held up the place fully armed with AK's and AR-15's, all while having hostages. There was no indication as to what the motive for this was but that was the reason why they were here.

"Commissioner," said the deep monotone voice of the dark knight. Said man jumped up in shock. This happened every time.

"Geez, will you stop sneaking up like that! One of these days you're gonna give me a heart attack doing that." Robin snickered behind his gloved hand. He knew it was mean but seeing Gordon like this made his job just a tad bit entertaining.

Batman continued to stay there with his usual unreadable expression. "We arrived just as soon as we got the alert saying there was a hostage situation, but it seems like the situation has been taken care of." His eyes narrowed behind his cowl as he stared inside of the café through the window. He could see several of the Black Mask's men unconscious on the floor while others were being carried out by the police. He then eyed the two dead corpses that were covered up. One of them was the leader of the hold up and the other was a young woman who had been of the many who was held hostage. The report says that the woman was shot point blank in the head and that she has a young child. Until her closet kin can be contacted the child will stay with child services. The thug has multiple gunshot wounds…it seems he was shot and killed by his own men.

Gordon breathed a heavy sigh. "This is awful. We had gotten the distress call from one of the people living across the street. Something about a large black van stopping in front of the café and dropping off armed masked men. The lady was pretty panicked so she didn't give us any more detail than that. All I can say is before we got here someone had already taken these guys out."

Batman nodded and slowly made his way to the café with Robin and Gordon following behind him. Once inside they saw some of the remaining people that were held hostage who stayed behind, giving their testimonies on what happened. Some were still shaken up; seeing someone die isn't something you can just brush off.

"Oh thank goodness," they heard a voice say. They turned to see a red haired woman approaching them with a relieved look on her face.

"Ma'am," Gordon greeted, "You're the owner of this cafe right?"

"Yes, I'm Carla," she answered.

"I know you don't want to talk about what happened earlier, but we need to hear everyone's viewpoint of what transpired here before we can proceed with the investigation."

Carla nodded moving both of her hands to her chest. "Yes, I understand. What would you like to hear first?"

Gordon gave the dark knight a quick look before turning back to the woman. "We just wanted to know if you by chance saw the person who took these guys down. Other witness' say it was a man in a hoodie and jeans."

"That's correct, he had shown up completely out of nowhere, there was a blur and then the man, the leader, who was about to shoot Carson was just gone."

"Who is Carson," Batman asked.

"She's one of my employees that work the morning shift. She…she had been singled out by the leader of the group." She said pointing to the dead man that was covered up.

"I-I don't really know what they wanted with her but one of the other men pulled her from the group and…and…" Carla's eyes started to well up as she eyed the corpse of the now dead mother.

Gordon gave her a sympathetic look. "You don't have to continue ma'am."

Carla shook her head. "No, you need more information on what happened," she took a deep calming breath and continued. "They had singled out and taken Carson out from the hostages and started to bark at her and strike her because they wanted her to tell them something. I don't know what they would want from her."

Batman narrowed his eyes. He could tell just from the tone in her voice that she was either lying, or she was deliberately omitting pieces from her story.

" _What is she trying to hide_ ," he thought. From what he's heard from her he could deduce that she was pretty close to this Carson girl, but there is still the issue of this hooded figure showing up out of the blue. " _Carla is trying to sound like she doesn't know the guy but from her disposition and demeanor she definitely has at least had an interaction with him. Then that leaves Carson. She was definitely an anomaly, but why would Sionis send his men to take a whole café full of people just to find one girl?_ " he thought. Then it hit him. _"Whatever they were demanding must have been valuable enough to require them to extort a large number of people to pressure it out of Carson. I feel bad for the girl. A woman died and many more were being threatened, that doesn't give a lot of options. But I still don't know what they made her give herself up for."_

"That's all I know," Carla said while turning away from them. She was nervous to say the least. Being in front of a man like Gordon wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the brooding caped crusader standing right next to him. She had never seen him so close up before. It gave her chills and not the good kind.

"Yes, well thank you for your time ma'am, and once again you have my sincerest condolences for what transpired here," Gordon gave a solemn look around the store. Tables were destroyed and the panic of it all could be felt everywhere. There were bullet holes and blood all over the store; it was a miracle only two people died.

"Oh you're welcome." She waved goodbye to them as she watched them walk out the doors. When she saw that they had finally left she sighed, not realizing that she had been holding her breath.

"Thank goodness that's over…Carson, Itachi; you better thank me for this."

* * *

"Sooo," Robin began finally speaking up, "You figured out anything yet boss," he asked his mentor. Batman grunted in reply, which in his language meant yes.

"That woman, Carla, was hiding something. She gave no detail as to why those men were after Carson nor did she say what kind of connection the hooded figure had with her either."

"Maybe she did it out of courtesy to them," Robin shrugged.

Batman scowled as he looked down from the top of the building they were standing on. "I doubt it. Lying for someone in courtesy would mean acting with more emotion than we saw her express."

Robin raised a brow, "So you think she was covering for this hooded guy and this Carson lady?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying and I intend to find out why." Batman narrowed his eyes again. He could deduce from the report and everyone's account of what transpired that the hooded man showed up in order to save Carson and single handedly took down all of Black Mask's thugs. According to witness, he didn't kill the leader; he tricked the rest of the thugs to do that. He didn't know if he was dealing with a metahuman or someone who is highly skilled in combat but since this happened in his city he would get to the bottom of this. He still had so many questions. What kind of connection does Carson have with Black Mask? Who is this hooded man really and what is he capable of? He let out a breath catching his protégé's attention.

"We're going back to the Batcave," he announced as he got out his grappling gun.

Robin frowned. "But we just got out here like two hours ago! Don't our patrols last longer than that?"

Batman glared at him. "No complaining or you run the training course three times," he said before using his grappling gun to soar off into a nearby building.

"Aw man, that is so not fair," Robin pouted before doing the same.

* * *

Sorry for the wait guys and gals. Let me know what you think with some of the changes. I hope it doesn't deviate too far from the original story. Don't forget to read and review! Till next time!


	5. A Cruel World

After Itachi and Carson made it back to her apartment, Carson went inside and headed straight for the kitchen area with Itachi close behind. She went over to her refrigerator and took out a small jug of orange juice along with a pack of string cheese because food calms her down whenever she gets stressed. She then went to her kitchen table and took a seat. Itachi followed her to the table and took a seat across from her with his usual unreadable look.

Carson took several sips of her orange juice once she was finally situated. After she was finished with it she set it back on the table in front of her. Her eyes had a glazed over look in them from behind her cracked glasses and her mouth was in the form of a frown. It's been about two years since she last spoke about her mother. The last time it happened her brother had to delay the trip he was currently on now in order to stay home and keep her company. The subject of her mother messes her up and reduces her to a state that she absolutely detests; a state of vulnerability. Here she was, almost twenty years old and the mere mention of that woman makes her feel and act like a fifteen year old, just a sad excuse for a girl who had parenting issues.

"You know…I have only ever spoken to two people about how I truly felt about my mother. That was my brother, James and Carla," she chuckled dryly and took another somber sip of her orange juice, "Listen Itachi, I don't want you to pity me or sympathize with me when I tell you my story okay. It's pretty dark and depressing."

Itachi nodded. He wasn't one to judge a person based on their past. After living the life that he's lived and doing all of the things he's done, he knew that sometimes the past was out of someone's control and it was wrong to cast judgment because of it.

Carson set her orange juice down. "Have you ever asked yourself why certain things happen to certain people, like you and me? Why is it that we have to go through so much in order to live a normal life, one filled with peace?"

Itachi hesitantly nodded. As much as he was dedicated to his mission to protect his brother and his village, he'd be lying if he said he never wondered why it had to be him.

Carson moved her hand over to her shoulder and squeezed it. "I have asked myself that question every single day since I was old enough to understand things about the world." She sighed and mover her hand from her shoulder to the crook of her elbow. "I guess I should start from the beginning, when my life was normal and much simpler."

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

 _March 19_ _th_ _, 1987_

 _My mom, Agatha Rhodes, was a…she wasn't one of those typical moms that you see in those corny television sitcoms. You wouldn't even consider her being a mother if you ever saw her appearance. She had brown shoulder length hair that was pinned up and curled, her make-up was done so well that it would make teenage girls feel insecure, and she had a body that runway models would kill for; along with clothes that weren't exactly appropriate for someone her age. That was my mother, a hooker, who knew how to draw in her patrons with her good looks and persuasive charm. I guess you could surmise that she really enjoyed that life, but I never understood why though. Being someone's booty call is not my idea of something fun…I'm getting off topic. It's also important to mention that she was one of the Black Mask's girlfriends. He'd use her and his other women to get money off the streets from poor, desperate men looking for a good time. It was one of the jobs she was responsible for besides keeping track of how much money she was bringing in. None of Black Mask's other women were allowed near his money because the only one he trusted was my mother._

 _I guess you could say that was because he loved her, or so it appeared._

 _It might have looked like love from an outsider's point of view, but to Black Mask and my mom, it was a mutual understanding. 'Just business' if you will. It was a motto that my mom lived by._

 _Life, for her, was interesting. She did her job as she was told to, was never slighted for anything, and never disobeyed Black Mask or any of her superiors._

 _She was as obedient and willing as a dog. To him that's what she was, a show dog that obeyed his every whim._

 _Whenever there was any type of get together between the neighboring gang leaders, Black Mask would bring her with him along with his most intimidating men as his personal guard. He compensated them well enough to look after my mom whenever he left her side. In his eyes, my mother was off limits, to everyone._

 _It was around that same time that my mom met a man by the name of Gerald Collins, my father. He was one of the accountants that worked for Black Mask. My mom had bumped into him on his first day on the job; he accidentally ripped her dress when it got caught on his belt. She yelled and cursed at him and he apologized repeatedly to her which wound up making my mom laugh. It was a weird introduction, but for them it was romantic none the less._

 _As you might remember from what I told you earlier, my looks don't come from my mother, I got them from my dad. He was pretty plain, shy, and not all that fashionable; he was the polar opposite of my mother. He didn't really have much going for him other than his North Carolina charm and stupid puns that made no sense. I guess it's why my mom fell in love with him._

 _For a while they would bump into each other by accident more and more. Eventually their little meetings progressed from accidental into intentional. They had formed a weird friendship that slowly blossomed into love. It may be cheesy, but it was one of my favorite stories that they told. I mean what girl wouldn't want to hear how her parents met and fell in love?_

 _They were madly in love and together, but it had to be hidden from everyone, that included the top dog himself. My mom had a reputation as Black Mask's favorite while my dad stayed his lowly accountant. It would end badly if people found out. Here in Gotham there is no such thing as happily ever after. Many have died trying to achieve that._

 _Later on down the way, my parents had eventually found a way to leave their mafia lives behind. They both had the dream of starting a family together and living peacefully in a house or apartment._

 _You wanna know how they managed to do that? It was wrong but my dad hacked into Black Mask's bank accounts, and stole over a million dollars; just enough to get the heck out of dodge and find somewhere safe to live with mom. It was risky, and stupid, but they pulled it off. A small apartment was bought a few miles from this one along with a small red convertible._

 _Things, after that, went great for my parents. They found jobs for themselves that paid moderately well so that the million dollars would never run out. Mom was a waitress at Carla's Café; it was called Beatrice's Café back then before the name changed when Carla was old enough to take over. The owner and my mother were actually pretty close to each other, close enough that mom wound up becoming the assistant owner._

 _Dad stayed in his profession as an accountant. He worked from home and kept a catalog of the money that was earned and spent._

 _Two years later I was born. My mom freaked out about having to now raise a child and do all of the stuff that 'normal' mothers do when they first have a child. Beatrice said that she'd help her out since she had experience with a child of her own. Carla was eight at the time._

 _Dad was unusually calm about the whole thing though. To this day I wonder why he never panicked over having me. He usually stayed mellow but acted out when something was truly wrong. Perhaps he was just naturally a calm and patient person. You remind me of him in a way._

 _As a child, I grew to become more attached to my dad. I was just drawn by his calm demeanor that I would cry for him more than I would my mother. I didn't hate her or anything, I loved her, but I loved my dad slightly more than I did her. He was like the sun to me, just so bright and full of passionate love for his wife and daughter._

 _... When I was seven, I overheard my mother talking to someone on the phone. I didn't know who she was speaking to because of how low the volume was and she was whispering, but from what I could hear from their conversation I could tell it wasn't anything good. I heard the words drugs and money, there were also some very harsh whispers that were made by my mother. Being at that age, I didn't really understand what certain things meant, but a kid in my class had once said that one time his mom was in rehab for taking too many drugs. She used up a lot of the family funds to buy them from some shady guy off of the street._

 _I panicked afterwards and rushed away from my parent's room. I was scared and confused about why my mom would do something so dangerous. I was in denial about it for a long time, always telling myself she was just sick or that they were for my dad because I just didn't want to believe that my own mother was capable of doing such a thing._

 _But denying it only made it harder for me to see the truth that was in front of me the entire time._

 _A year later my brother, James, was adopted into our little family. He was eleven at the time, three years older than me, and very scraggly. My dad had brought him home one day saying that he would be a part of our family; he said something along the lines of him not deserving to live on the streets and starve because of irresponsible parents. Mom was none too pleased about his decision but held back on her displeasure. She just went along with his decision and went off to who knows where. But remember, she made a mysterious call to some creep about money and drugs, well it turns out my fears were correct. One day, I trailed my mom to see what she was up to after I came home from school. I had spent basically the entire afternoon and most of the evening following her, which by the way almost got me hit by a car. What I saw that day, I couldn't believe it. There stood my mother right before me, holding a bag of cylinder looking bottles that had pills in them. With her was a man in a large trench coat looking very sleazy and slimy. The creep had a stack of green paper-it was obviously money- and was counting it like he just made a big score._

 _I don't remember much that happened after that but I know that I ran straight home, with no thought of turning back. I didn't want to confront my mom about what I saw. If I did…who knows what would have happened. A few months later things started to change in my home. Mom was becoming harsher and colder towards James. It was like she was a different person when it came to my brother. When she thought no one was there she would talk bad to him, she once said that he wasn't wanted here or anywhere and that I was the only child they wanted. One time she even struck him when he spoke back to her in self-defense. My dad soon grew worried and suspicious. Over time our savings had decreased for some odd reason, but I knew why._

 _Mom was still buying drugs. She just wouldn't stop and I could never figure out why, that is until a year later. She was being contacted by Black Mask, who had discovered what she and dad had done. I forgot to mention that my mom suffered from mental health issues from even when she was in Black Mask's care. He had a special serum made for her and only her. She was special, up until she left and he had the only resources required to produce the medicine for my mom._

 _I thought that maybe she needed the drugs for her health, I wished it with all my heart, but it wasn't. She was addicted to the stuff; she was popping pills every day. It was breaking my heart seeing just how withdrawn she became. It hurt…it hurt a lot, but the one who was hurt most was my dad when he found out the truth._

 _For such a calm man, dad was furious. He yelled at her and in response she yelled back. James and I hid in his room but left the door cracked slightly open, we hugged each other for comfort. The yelling got louder and scarier, I felt like a helpless child._

 _Things went from bad to worse after that._

 _Beatrice, the café owner, had some unwanted visitors come to her store one day when my mom was working. It was some of Black Mask's thugs and they came armed with guns. I know this sounds familiar because this just happened not too long ago, but this is true. They ransacked the café in order to get my mom to leave with them and Beatrice got shot trying to save my mother, it didn't kill her; thank goodness. She got off with just a mild wound._

 _In the end they got what they wanted and took my mom, they didn't really give her chance what with them shooting anyone they felt like, if antagonized._

 _My dad was beyond shocked and horrified. He knew that someday Black Mask would come after us once he found out… We didn't see mom for three years after that day. It broke my dad, making him a mere shell of himself, the sudden change in atmosphere in our household pushed my brother take over things when he saw that dad wasn't getting any better. James was determined to make sure I was taken care of and he was fifteen at the time so I guess he thought he was old enough to become the man of the house. James was…he was very overprotective of me around that time. When we were kids he was distant and wary of all of us. He didn't say a word to anyone until I decided to get him to open up. It took a while but eventually I got him to open up to us…to me. Sorry, I'm getting off topic. I…I just get emotional whenever I think about back then. James was my anchor when dad became indisposed and lost. Maybe that's why he got permission to join the military when he was old enough. He was so stern and disciplined; he and the military were a perfect fit._

 _It was about three weeks later that we caught word from mom. She told us that she was fine and that nothing bad had happened to her, but she wouldn't comment on whether or not she was coming home. It turns out that she had no plans of returning to us._

 _Dad was heartbroken, very heartbroken…._

 _One day, after my brother picked me up from school, we walked home. We normally would have gone to Beatrice's house first to hang out with Carla, but that day we decided to change it up and head straight home. I don't know why we decided to do it; maybe it was because James kept saying that he had a bad feeling. In the end that was enough._

… _W-What we saw…what we saw that day broke my heart._

 _I saw…my father; his body was lying motionless on the floor in a pool of blood. There was a gun in his hand and a gunshot wound in his head. He….he…killed himself._

 _I screamed. My eyes were filled with horror and grief. James ran next to me; he didn't cry or scream like I did, but he did hold me close. He comforted me and tried to assure me that everything would be okay. I knew he was lying though. Nothing was okay after that._

 _Lou, the guy you met and protected me from, came to us and said that he was a representative of Black Mask. To me, he didn't look like it. He was as dirty then as he is now, but he told us since dad was a once trusted accountant and because he was so excellent at his job, that the mob boss was willing to pay for us._

 _But just like everything in my life, it came with a price._

 _I…had to do as my mother once did. I didn't sell myself; my mom's main job was to steal from people on a daily basis. It's how she earned her keep when she was a hooker. When we were told that it was going to be alright, it seems my brother didn't read the fine print. He signed everything away, including me. James didn't accept that, so he went and took out whatever savings we had and used it to buy another apartment._

 _But that didn't mean I was free from them. Lou ordered me to commit crimes every day. I stole, pick pocketed, and ransacked; it was despicable, but he still seemed like a nice guy…but I was wrong._

 _A few years later, after Beatrice died, her daughter Carla took over the business when she was old enough and James enlisted himself in the military when he was nineteen. He had such outstanding grades in school that he wound up getting a scholarship to a good military based college. As for me, life was going nowhere. My grades were decent, but not good enough to get accepted into a good college like James, and I was still a thief at sixteen. It was horrible. I was a complete screw-up, doing nothing but ruining any chance I had at having a future. Then, out of nowhere I discovered the whole reason why I was stealing…I got to see my mother again. Lou decided it was time to meet the boss himself. It was an interesting first meeting. He spoke to me rudely, but overall it wasn't that bad. But then I saw her. A few women came into the room, my mother was one of them, and she wore a bedazzled skimpy dress with slits up her thighs. My eyes went wide with pure anger. I was downright furious with her. How could she do that to us, my brother, to me…to dad? Supposedly she wasn't all that surprised to see me; she in fact acted like she didn't know I existed at all. She didn't even glance in my direction. I was hurt by that._

 _From that day on, I was broken. My mother, the woman who birthed me into this world, the one who played with me and fed me, that…miserable woman who thought more of herself than her own family, ruined my life. She was dead to me._

 _And I will never forgive her for it._

 _(End Flashback)_

* * *

Carson huffed in anger while she took another sip of her orange juice. Itachi surveyed her carefully, barely blinking while doing so. Her story definitely intrigued him and if it did nothing else it confirmed a hunch he had.

Carson was almost a mirror reminder of his brother, Sasuke.

The girl held deep hatred for her mother, a hatred that has been growing for years now. Though he could understand why she hated her mother, he didn't want to pass judgment on her mom without at least hearing her side of the story because if Itachi knew anything from his short life it was that there are always three sides to every story; his side, her side, and the truth. He didn't want Carson to go through the same path as his brother which was a path that leads to self-loathing and self-destruction. As long as he could help it he would make sure she wouldn't walk that path.

"What do you think, Itachi? Was my story depressing," Carson asked catching his attention.

"Your story….is only as depressing as you want it to be," Itachi tilted his head to the side, "You just have to remember that your story is not set in stone. Just because it starts off dark and painful doesn't mean it can't end in the light of joy. It's all up to you, because you and you alone are the author of your story." Since arriving in this world, Itachi has reflected on his life back home, from start to finish. He had been a rogue ninja who committed one of the most unforgivable acts in the history of his village, murdering his entire clan and family with the exception of only his brother. Sasuke grew up surrounded by loneliness and hatred because of Itachi's sins. He thought his death would quell that hatred but it only grew stronger and now he aims it at the place where Itachi and he called home. It was his hope that somehow his little brother would finally see the light, the same light Itachi saw despite all the darkness around him. He knew in order to do that, it would take a friend. And the same goes for Carson. Naruto is Sasuke's friend and Itachi knows he has to be Carson's friend.

"Itachi," Carson called.

Itachi turned her way again. He saw her looking down at the table nervously. She had one of her hands twirling the end of her loose brown hair. She lifted her head slowly; her brown eyes glistened behind her glasses as she stared into his onyx eyes.

Carson looked like she was about to cry as she continued to look into Itachi's eyes. He could see that unraveling old wounds was painful and hard for her, even without his sharingan he could see it from the look on her face. She really wanted to cry. He sighed knowing he had no other choice.

"Come here," he said while scooting his chair out and opening his arms wide. Without another word, Carson got up and ran into his arms. Her face fell into his chest and her hands clutched the front of his hoodie as she began to sob. Itachi wrapped his arms around her loosely. He listened to the girl cry silently except for the occasional chocked out sobs she let out. It sounded like she was saying something but it never came out clearly. He did all he could, which was to be there for her in her time of need since he was never able to do that for his brother.

When he felt Carson had stopped crying he gently pat her back and whispered words of encouragement to her.

"Are you finished," he asked. He felt her nod against his chest. He expected her to let him go and step back in embarrassment, but she never did. Instead of letting go, she held on tighter as if out of fear that if she let go then he might disappear forever.

"Itachi," she said once again.

"Yes _._ " _What is she going to ask this time_ , he thought.

"I know I seem like such a drama queen right now, but…I just wanted to pour my heart out to someone. I couldn't keep that bottled up inside while I kept going on with my life. It would destroy me. I was hoping that if you're willing, that you'd tell me your story."

Itachi was silent. His story was so complicated because his story wasn't just his; it was the story of pretty much an entire bloodline. He didn't know if he had the right to tell it. If he had his way his brother would have never discovered the truth so how could he bring himself to telling it again. He promised himself he'd never have to. But as he looked into Carson's eyes, something about them made it hard for him to lie to her. "Maybe one day…when I'm finally ready to talk about it."

She smiled at him. It may not have been a definite yes, but she still considered it to be a major step forward in their friendship.

"Thank you. Since you're staying with me, I want to know about you; I want to know where you came from and also what hardships you had to deal with in order to get here." Itachi sighed. He really didn't want to share any of his past. It wasn't because he didn't trust her, but because he didn't want her view of him to change and hearing his story would definitely change her opinion of him.

He looked down at her and saw her eyelids were starting to lower. It seems all of that crying made her pretty tired. He lifted her up and walked her into her bedroom. He'd never really been in her room before so when he was inside he took a look around. She had many posters and pictures on her wall. Some of them had people on it while others had shows that she had told him about; such as Agents of Shield. Some of the others had bands that she tried and failed to get him to listen to. Even back home, he found the performing arts to be a bit dull. The rest of her room was pretty basic besides the pink night stand, lamp, and alarm clock she owned. She said she wasn't much of a girly person.

Itachi took her over to her bed and laid her down softly so he wouldn't disturb her slumber. He took one of the blankets on the edge of the bed and unfolded it so he could lay it on top of Carson. He let out a small smile when he saw how at peace she was. Before he forgot, he peered down and took off her glasses to set them on the night stand beside her.

"Hmmm…Itachi," he heard her mumble under her breath.

Itachi smiled down at her while moving his hand to touch her forehead like how he used to do with Sasuke when they were younger. He had his middle and index fingers pointed out and was about to touch her when he stopped. He gazed down at Carson's sleeping form as he slowly started to back away.

He returned his hand to his side and silently left out of her room. As he closed the door behind him he reflected on everything that had happened today. After hearing her story it all was starting to make sense. He needed to end this quarrel Carson had with Black Mask and he knew just how to do it. Itachi was going to find Carson's mother, hear her side of the story, and finally bring her home. That was the only way this would finally end. He looked back at the closed door to Carson's room and sighed from recalling what he almost did earlier.

"What am I doing?"

* * *

Right now Batman was buried in deep concentration. He was using his computer to try and deduce the identities of all of the people involved in the Café ransack. Thanks to all of the information provided to him by Gordon the process of it all was greatly reduced. If he knew Roman Sionis like how he thought he did, he knew that this wouldn't be the last time something like this happened. He was a man who held grudges. The identity of the mysterious hooded man that the cafe owner mentioned also greatly bothered him.

As he was typing he heard his ward/protégé walk up beside him to observe what was on the screen.

"Wow Bruce, you really are deadset on finding this hooded guy," he noted. Bruce barely gave him a response. All he did was grunt in reply.

"Why are you looking for that guy? Wouldn't it be better to go after Black Mask for sending those men to that café? I mean…a mother died because of him."

Batman turned and faced his ward, "I plan on finding Sionis, but in order to do that I need to find that hooded suspect. I don't like that he showed up at the café and then one of the Black Mask's most trusted subordinates wound up dead. And if I don't like it, then I can guarantee you that Sionis absolutely hated it. He's going want payback and not just on him, but on this Carson girl as well. I think that they are connected somehow so it is imperative that we find them and get answers before Black Mask does. I will not have a grudge war waged in Gotham."

"How do you plan on finding him Bruce? We didn't pick up any trace of him from street cameras and none of the witnesses gave any indication as to where we could start a search. He obviously doesn't want to be found. He's practically a ghost. Example; you haven't found one trace or rumor about him in our database.

"True, we can't find anything on him and it has piqued my interest, but we do have something on Carson. Though witnesses say they left the café separately, I have a hunch that finding one will lead us to the other. Right now I have her true identity narrowed down to three possible residents of Gotham; Carson Smith, Carson Collins, and Carson Williams. Once I find out which Carson is the one Black Mask wants, we will interrogate her on why she is a target of Sionis and on his possible whereabouts. But most importantly we will keep her protected until Black Mask is brought to justice."

"That sounds like a plan Bruce, but what about our hooded suspect. What are we going to do if we find him with her," Dick asked.

"Well that depends on Carson when we find her; if she is forthcoming with everything including his identity and where to find him then I'll interrogate him and go from there," he answered.

"And if she proceeds to be a problem or isn't forthcoming, then what's our play," he asked.

"We would have to go after him then. She is the only thing that can protect him because the bottom line is that a man died in that café and there must be justice for that. We will bring that suspect down unless she gives us a reason not to. She will determine just how far this rabbit hole will go."

Dick nodded his head reluctantly. He didn't want to go after this girl and her apparent acquaintance but he knew that if they didn't capitulate to Batman then it would not be up to him. Even with his doubts on whether or not they were guilty or innocent he knew not to challenge Batman on it. He'd follow his lead anywhere. He just hoped for their sake that they have nothing to hide, because the Batman will always find your darkest secrets. He left and went up to his room to get some sleep.

Bruce stayed in his Batcave to keep on his search. _The quicker I find this girl, the quicker I can end this before another child loses its parent. That won't happen again, not on my watch._

* * *

Sorry for the long wait on the update. Family issues delayed me but here I am again. The next update won't take as long as this one did. Hope you enjoy it!


	6. The Crow

It has been days since Carson told her story to Itachi, days since she released a burden she felt she was carrying for years, and for once in her life she felt liberated. It was like saying it out loud released her from the shackles that bound her. Since that day, she and Itachi have built somewhat of a stronger bond, well in her eyes they have. Itachi listened to her and not once did she ever feel like he judged her for it and for that she would forever be grateful.

Carson was currently in the process of running around the room like a chicken that had just lost its head because she, of course, slept through her alarm and was late for school.

Itachi was in his room in deep thought when he heard a commotion going on outside his door. He walked out and saw Carson dash out of her room. She ran to the kitchen trying to quickly make herself breakfast. Itachi quirked a brow in amusement as he leaned against the door frame, watching as the young bespectacled girl was scrambling for food.

Carson bit her lip searching profusely around through her cabinets for a bowl. She stiffened a bit when she heard the sound of footsteps entering the kitchen. She turned around and saw Itachi heading over to where she was standing. "Hey! Morning Itachi, uh don't mind me I'm just being my normal late self," she said turning away for him as she went back to searching for a clean spoon now.

Itachi nodded at her before smiling slyly. Carson noticed this and started to blush, "W-Why are you smiling like that? Is my hair a mess? Oh jeez where is as mirror when you need one," she continued to rattle off while Itachi shook his head at her.

"Carson, don't always be in such a rush. Sit down and relax," and just like that Carson's frantic mood had stopped and she had calmed down. It's been like that lately. It was something about his voice that took all of her worry away. She sat down with her dry cereal in a bowl and Itachi got out a jug of orange juice for her and he sat down at the opposite side of the table.

"Thanks. I guess it didn't matter anyways since I had already overslept. It's already 9:50 right now. I'm just excited, you know?" She had recently found out that her brother James was going to be coming back to Gotham soon and he would be staying with her. As much as she was excited for his arrival, she was also dreading what else that implied.

"Hey Itachi, I know this is sudden but I need a huge favor of you," she started. Itachi nodded for her to go on with her request. "I need for you to leave when my brother gets here. Now this would only be temporary. I just haven't gotten around to telling him about you and it would be really weird for him to get here and find out that some guy I literally picked up off of the street is staying with me. That would be the definition of awkward."

Itachi nodded his head at her, "If that's what you want then so be it."

Carson smiled at him when she heard that he was cool with it, "Thank you so much! If you want I could ask my neighbors from across the hall if you could stay with them while my brother is in town. I'm cool with their daughter so I bet she could put a good word in for me. You don't have to if you don't want to, but still at least it's an option."

Itachi shook his head, "No, that won't be necessary. I'll be fine on my own for a while, but thanks anyway."

"Are you sure? I just don't like the idea of you being out on the streets homeless again," she pressed.

"It doesn't matter where I am, I'll never be homeless," he replied. Carson smiled and nodded at him. She knew he could take care of himself, she just wished he didn't have to do it by himself. She wanted to be there for him in any way that he needed.

"Okay Itachi. Hey, it's about time for me to head out. I'm already late enough as it is," she rambled as she collected her things. "Did you have anything to do while I'm at school?"

"I'm going to take a stroll through Gotham, just to get familiar with things. I haven't really been out since moving in with you," he answered.

"Oh okay, just be careful please. Gotham isn't a place to just mingle around in. The people here can be despicable and cruel. I'll see you around." She then left out through the door and heading to school.

Itachi stared at the door Carson just left out of and mulled over her parting words. ' _The people here can be despicable and cruel_.' That was something he was all too familiar with. In the end he knew he could take care of himself, and if something did happen he would defend himself if need be.

While he did plan to take a stroll through Gotham, his true purpose was to find intel on Black Mask. He knew in order to do that he would have to track down one of his subordinates and interrogate him, threaten if he had to, if they did not talk.

His men attacked Carson at her home and her job, and both times Itachi had come to her defense, but now it was time to go on the attack. After hearing Carson's story, Itachi made it a side goal of his to bring down Black Mask and his entire operation. He was going to take the first steps towards that goal by doing as he had said, that being taking a walk around the area.

First, he was going to expand his knowledge of Gotham's landscape. If he was going to fight this battle, he'd have to know everything about the battlefield. Then after that was done he would find a way to hide his identity. He didn't want anything he was doing to go back to Carson. _She's been through enough already._ After that, he'd go on the attack. He planned on taking them down quietly and swiftly, giving them no time to respond or retaliate.

He got up and left out of the apartment once he finished laying out his plan. He was locking the door when he heard a voice come from behind him, "Who are you and what are you doing outside of my neighbor's door?"

He turned and saw a beautiful blond teen. She had olive-toned skin and dark gray eyes. She was slender in stature, yet also had an athletic build to her. She was wearing a white collared shirt underneath a navy blue blazer and skirt, with a red necktie loose around the collar of her shirt, and a pair of shin length white socks and brown leather shoes. Her book bag hung over her left shoulder by one both straps. He gave her a kind smile and began to explain himself.

"Carson was kind enough to allow me to stay with her. I just moved here recently so that's why you haven't seen me too often. Since she just left for school I was just leaving to go for a walk and I didn't want to leave her apartment unlocked," he explained.

It looked like she was accepting his explanation-after a few seconds of giving him a scrutinizing look- because her body language shifted from hostile to relaxed, "Oh okay. Well it's nice to meet you then. What's your name?"

"My name is Itachi, and you?" She gave him a smile back, "Artemis. I'm Carson's friend and her neighbor. I live across the hall with my mom."

"Well Artemis, it was nice to meet you but I must be on my way and by the looks of it so should you," he said giving the pack on her back a pointed look.

"Yeah you're right. Catch you later Itachi," she said while walking away. As she was walking she started thinking to herself how cute Itachi was. _Carson sure is lucky to have eye candy like him to look at. I just might have to accidentally run into him more_. She then started chuckle at the thought.

Itachi set off to start his crusade against Black Mask. And if everything goes according to plan, Carson will never have to feel oppressed by him again.

* * *

It was about an hour past noon as Itachi was currently walking in Robinson Park. It was a desolate area to say the least. In fact, he thought more than a few places in Gotham could be described that way. There really was no middle ground here. It either looked new aged or war torn.

From the signs up all over the place Itachi figured this was a respiration project. People walking by him looked defeated and seemed to have given up on hope. He could see and hear people openly breaking the law as if there would be no consequences. That's probably because the police stopped venturing out to this part of the city. Why worry about the law when its protectors can't seem to be bothered to uphold it?

As time went by the skies started to get gloomier and a downpour started soon afterwards. It didn't seem to bother any of the Gothamites; they just acted like everything was normal. He leapt up on top of a nearby rooftop and got a better view of Gotham as a whole.

"This place looks just like the hidden rain village. It's like someone made a nightmare of metal and dread," he noted out loud. He looked down at his watch that Carson gave him and sighed. _Carson will be getting done with her classes soon and I still haven't found one of Black Mask's thugs._

He only had two places left on the list to check out; Chinatown and Park Row, aka Crime Alley. He decided to speed over to Chinatown first. As thrilling as it is to visit a place that is nicknamed Crime Alley, he wanted to check out Chinatown because Carson told him that it is the closest Gotham will ever come to being considered multicultural and festive.

He quickly dashed away towards his destination hoping to scout everything and be back before Carson started to worry.

* * *

"Itachi! I'm home! You won't believe the day I had..." Carson had just made it back to her apartment. She set her things down on the couch and looked around. She blinked a few times when she heard no one answer.

"That's weird, he usually would have come out by now. He must still be gone on his little one man field trip across Gotham," she mused to herself. Personally, she thought this whole trip he was taking was a bad idea. Gotham isn't the place for that. _Why couldn't he have just stayed inside like normal people who fear getting mugged?_

She shrugged her shoulders. If he wasn't back before 5 she would go out to look for him. For now she decided to start doing some homework when she heard a knock on her door. She excitingly went and checked the peephole with the hopes of seeing Itachi or even her brother James, but she saw it was none other than Artemis her neighbor.

She unlocked the door and let her friend in, "Hey Artemis. I see you must be out of school too. Don't you have work right afterwards though?"

"My boss called and said they didn't need me today so I thought why not spend my free afternoon with you," she answered with a smile.

"Well would you look at that, I'm touched." Carson replied with a giggle. They moved to sit down on the couch and told each other about their day. Artemis shared how much she hated Gotham Academy because of all of the stuck-up, rich snobs that inhabited that school. Carson told her about how some guy was hitting on her and she had to let him down easy by telling him she was happily single which made Artemis laugh out loud.

"Hey, what's so funny," Carson asked.

"Oh sorry, it's just hard picturing you doing anything the easy way. You probably said something super sassy to him that made him dash away in tears."

"I'm not that bad am I?" Carson said now curious.

"Um let me think about that, yes! I remember when you kneed some boy in the groin for insinuating that Marvels Agents of Shield was a bad show." Artemis recalled.

"Hey, I wouldn't have done that if the guy wasn't acting like such a know it all. You know you wanted to knee him too." She retorted.

"Yes, I wanted to, but you actually did it. Just stop denying it." They both started laughing after Carson conceded in defeat. When they stopped laughing, Artemis took the opportunity to tease her friend about what she discovered earlier.

"So a little birdie told me that you have a new roommate, a very attractive roommate," she teased while wiggling her eyebrows.

Carson's face flushed bright pink from embarrassment. _She must have seen him when he left this morning. This is so embarrassing!_ She quickly tried to come up with an explanation but Artemis beat her to the punch.

"Oh don't worry your pretty little head. Itachi told me that you were kind enough to let him stay with you. Unlike you, when I confronted him he was cool, calm, and collected about it," she teased.

"Yeah, Itachi has that way about him that makes it seem like nothing ever gets to him. He's not much of a talker like you or I, but I truly enjoy his company," Carson said. Even though she was having a good time with Artemis, she would be lying if she said she wouldn't prefer it to be Itachi.

"Yeah with a guy as good looking as Itachi, I bet you do enjoy his company. I was only talking to him for a brief moment and I know for a fact I enjoyed every second of it," she added. Her comment gave Carson a funny feeling in her gut but she decided to keep it inside since that genuinely confused her.

Carson then remembered that her brother James was coming back into town and how she needed a huge favor out of Artemis. She grew nervous as she thought of a way to ask her friend this request. It's not every day you get asked to house a complete stranger but she really didn't want to leave Itachi in the streets because she worried for his safety and that if he left he might never come back.

"Is there something you want to ask me? You seem to be having this great internal struggle or something. I won't bite your head off so just ask," she said jokingly.

Carson then took a breath and made her request, "I need you to do me a huge favor and let Itachi stay with you while my brother James is back in town. I normally wouldn't do this but it just doesn't really sit well with me letting my friend out into the streets with nowhere to sleep. He'll just try to play it off, but please Artemis just until I can tell James about him."

Artemis put a soothing hand on her friend and gave her a kind smile, "Don't worry. He can stay with my mom and I Carson."

Carson was so ready to be rejected that when she actually registered her friend's words, she leapt up in joy, "Thank you! Thank you so much! You are so awesome for this!"

Artemis laughed and tried to calm her friend down, "Okay, okay. Stop jumping before you hurt yourself. I mean honestly, you would have thought I got on one knee and proposed to you. Itachi seems like a sensible and decent guy, plus you vouched for him so of course I'll let him stay."

Carson then stopped jumping and settled for hugging her friend, "This really means a lot. Seriously, thank you for this Artemis."

"No problem. That's what friends are for," she replied. "Besides, it's not every day a girl gets to rent her home out to the hot guy next door. I should be the one thanking you." They then both burst out laughing.

As time went by they went over the details of when James would be coming over and Carson described Itachi to her friend in more detail. She really wished he was here himself but it seems this trip of his would be an all-day affair. All she could do is hope he was alright and would come back safely.

* * *

Itachi was walking through Chinatown trying to get to gouge the sights Gotham had to offer. There were plenty of people out despite the fact that it was well into the night and still down pouring rain from earlier. He had to admit it; this part of the city was a lot livelier than any of the others he had visited today, but that wasn't saying much considering how gloomy every other part of the city was. As he looked around he saw the people of Gotham mingling and socializing as if it weren't raining.

There were carts that contained food, souvenirs, and clothes. People held markets, activity stands, and restaurants all over that Itachi took note of. In some weird way, it reminded him of the Leaf Village at night. He was walking over by himself when a woman, with short black hair who looked to be in her late 50's, in a stand full of masks called him over.

"Young man, can I interest you in buying one of my masks," she asked. Itachi didn't want to be rude but he had no money to buy a mask even if he wanted one. He walked over to her and was about to politely refuse when she reached out and grabbed his hand with both of hers. He eyed her weirdly and found this whole situation strange while she had a grip on him.

Just when he was about to question what she was doing she spoke up, "I see you're here to do something important, but in order to do so you have to become the man you hate. You know from firsthand experience I understand that certain measures have to be taken in order to protect the one's you love. It might require you to become someone that they hate. In order to fight darkness you must become darkness. Just from feeling your hand I know you have experienced great tragedy and pain, I can see it in your eyes."

She then let go of him and went into the back of her shop. Itachi kept his face impartial but internally this woman really piqued his interest. When she returned she brought out a dark red box with her. She presented the box to him and told him that it was on the house.

Itachi politely tried to refuse, "I'm sorry ma'am, but I just can't accept your gift-"

She shook her head and pointed towards Itachi's heart, "The gift isn't mine, it has always belonged to you young man. You just didn't know it until now. You're here for a reason, a cause. What's in this box will help to progress that cause and shield not only you, but those who you call friend as well. Take it and do what you came here to do."

He reluctantly accepted the gift from the old lady and stood there confused. She smiled one last time before retreating towards back of her stand. Itachi didn't really know what to think of what just happened. He just turned and walked away with his gift in his hand.

As time passed Itachi went to the rooftops to do his traveling. He still had one more stop before his night was over; Crime Alley. From the eavesdropping that he's been doing throughout the day, this is pretty much a breeding ground for all of the crime in Gotham. He could tell why just from seeing it from afar. It was the very definition of desolation. The buildings were closed off, broken down, or used to conduct illegal activities. Cars were riddled with bullet holes, windows to establishments were broken, and the people here were either criminals or victims.

He shook his head at the sight he was witnessing, "It's no wonder Carson has gone through so much, this city is filled with darkness." He then remembered the words of the woman who gave him the box he was carrying, ' _In order to fight darkness you must become darkness.'_ He then got a vision of him in his anbu gear the night he massacred his family. The more time he spent in this city, the more he had the ugly feeling that he would need to become that killer once more in order to save it.

He had had enough of this depressing place and was about to leave when he heard a scream coming from a nearby alley. He went to investigate and saw three men ganging up on a teenage boy. The three men really got Itachi's attention when he saw what they were wearing; each had on a black mask akin to the one's worn by the thugs who raided Carla's Café.

 _This is my chance, by the end of the night one of these men will tell me everything I want to know about Black Mask_.

He then looked down at the box he was carrying and decided to open his gift. Inside of the box was a black mask that was made to look like a crow. He put it on and was surprised on how well it fit his face. It only covered the upper half of his face leaving his mouth and jaw exposed. The eye sockets had glass openings that were just big enough so that his eyes were barely visible. The beak of the crow mask was a darker shade of black than the rest of the mask, which made it even more ominous looking. He put his hood over his head, activated his sharingan, and leapt from the rooftop down into the alley behind Black Masks thugs.

When he landed the thugs stopped attacking the young man and put their focus on him. In the dark all they could see was his sharingan. As he stepped forward he issued them a warning, "Leave him alone, or else." They got nervous now. In Gotham, whenever a figure fell from rooftops and issued out threats it was usually either the Batman or his associates/sidekicks of his. But they have never seen one with red eyes before which made them wonder who this guy really was.

The teenager saw his opportunity and made a dash towards freedom. The thugs tried to shoot him but Itachi rushed at them, causing them all to miss. Itachi started with a strong running jab first and it knocked out the first thug instantly. The other two tried to retaliate but Itachi threw a low sweep tripping them and causing them to fall to the wet cemented ground. Now that they were both on the ground he sprung back to his feet and threw one of them to the wall rendering him unconscious. The other saw this as his chance to strike but Itachi gave him one glance and placed him under a genjutsu.

The black mask thug now stood there in a look of stupor. Itachi removed the thug's mask and wrapped his hand around his throat tightly. He even started to lift the man up a few inches off the ground. He released the genjutsu so that the thug was aware of what was happening to him.

"You are going to tell me everything you know about your boss and I'll know if you are lying so I suggest against it unless you want to go back to that nightmare you were just having. Now we can do this one way or the other. I suggest you choose wisely," Itachi threatened. The man was so scared he would have told his whole life story if Itachi had asked.

"Sure! W-Whatever you want! Where d-do I start," he said while struggling to breathe because Itachi's grip was so tight. Itachi grinned internally. He lowered him so that they were face to face with one another and he spoke, "Just start from the beginning and I'll let you know when to stop. And remember…you lie, you die."

When Itachi put him under the genjutsu, even though it was only for a short while, he got all the information he needed out of this thug. This interrogation was just so he could see scum like him suffer. Once the man was finally done and Itachi confirmed that everything he said was true, he delivered a body kick that broke ribs and knocked him out cold.

He walked out of the alley satisfied with how everything went and prepared to return home to Carson. As he was about to dash away he saw that the boy he saved was still there watching him. The kid walked over to Itachi and thanked him for saving his life. The money they were trying to take was so that he could pay for his sister's medicine. If he lost that, his sister was as good as dead. Itachi gave him a silent nod before jetting away. The boy was in awe of what he just witnessed, "That's way cooler than Robin or the Batman; I have to tell my friends about this at school tomorrow."

On his way to the apartment Itachi only had one thought going through his mind _. Roman Sionis, your plan to reign over this city has just come to a screeching halt, and that halt has a name; Itachi Uchiha._

* * *

Carla was in her kitchen making coffee at the moment. Even though it was well past midnight she enjoyed the taste and she needed to unwind. Ever since her store was ransacked she was placed under the care of her husband not that she was complaining about it. She just hated not working and lying around the house all day. She just liked working and how it made her feel.

Her husband is a lieutenant for the GCPD and one of the best officers there. She was so proud of him because of how he was brought up, it was very easy for him to be corrupt but he rose above it to be a decent and honest man.

Her husband Phil was currently in the back having a meeting with associates. Carla always tried to let him do his work in peace, so, she never interferes. His associates though were subordinates of Black Mask, unbeknownst to Carla. They were here to give Phil his payment for helping out their cause.

"There you go Phil, there's all of it," the thug said smugly. Phil counted it and noticed he was short a substantial amount of money. He called them on it, "What do you mean all of it? This is only half of what you owe me!"

The crooks laughed at him, "What exactly do you mean? That is the payment we owe you. Oh the boss man deducted a chunk of it out because of the whole fiasco at your wife's café when she interfered with our business and stopped us from doing what we came to do. That pissed the boss off and you're lucky as hell money is all you lose because if it were me, I would have taken your wife away from you too."

Phil got scared for his and his wife's safety, "But I made sure the police were preoccupied and even got most of your men back on the streets, I can't control what she does when her store gets broken into."

The thug punched him hard in the gut and made Phil keel over in pain, "Well you better learn how to muzzle your wife soon because if something like that happens again…well it can't be helped what you might come home to. It could be your wife dead or even your house on fire. It just depends on what the boss feels like doing on that particular day…understand?"

Phil vigorously nodded his head at the menacing men, "I-I understand. It won't happen again, I promise." The masked gangsters started laughing again before leaving. As they were heading out of the back fence, the thug in charge left with one final statement, "Oh I'll hold you to that promise, count on that."

Phil stayed keeled over both in pain and in fear of what could happen to him and his wife. He knew he shouldn't be doing business with thugs but he needed the money and was already in way too deep to get out. He was stuck and had no way out.

Unbeknownst anyone, Batman was a few rooftops away watching the scene with some binoculars that he had. He had a funny feeling about Carla and his gut told him to stakeout her place and now he knows why. Her husband is working under Black Mask and it's a pretty good bet she doesn't know a thing about it.

He could bust her husband right now, using that to easily catch Sionis, but for now he would settle for just monitoring the situation. Now all he needs to do is find this Carson girl and see why Sionis is so interested in her.

"Master Bruce," his butler called.

"Go ahead Alfred," he answered.

"It seems the batcomputer has found the match on our person of interest."

"What's the name," he demanded.

"Her full name is Carson Collins sir. May I ask what your next plan of action is?"

"I plan to find her and have a talk with her. The sooner, the better."

"Very well sir. Will you be coming back to the cave soon?"

"It's barely past midnight Alfred. Gotham still has crimes for me to stop." He then grappled away from the rooftop to go on patrol.

This whole situation needed to be resolved soon before this gets worse. He already had enough on his plate with teaching Robin, leading his company, and handling the Justice League. But despite all of that he knew deep down that Gotham would always be his number one priority and nothing will change that.

* * *

That's the end of this chapter! We got the first glimpse of Itachi as he starts his new journey as The Crow! Sorry for the long update yet again but I hoped you enjoyed it. From here on out there's no more guideline material so we can all enjoy the twists and turns of this story together as they unfold. Get ready for a wild ride guys and gals! Till next time!


	7. Crow vs Bat: A Battle of Vigilantes

It has been a few days since Itachi took the first step to completing his plan of taking Black Mask down. He took down some underlings of his and discovered some crucial information that would help further the cause. The most crucial piece being that he discovered his true identity which was Roman Sionis. The official name of his criminal organization is the False Face Society. It was founded by Roman with the goal of taking over Gotham from the bottom up.

It was pretty common knowledge that Black mask operated out of the Industrial District of Gotham. He owned a steel mill by the name of Sionis Industries. Itachi spent his nights scouting the metal maze out. It was filled with men in masks, all of whom were armed with guns similar to those of whom raided Carla's Café. He would have swiftly made his presence known but he had one problem that was a major roadblock to that; Carson.

His first night out, when he came home late she absolutely freaked out on him. Apparently she stayed up all night worried about him and thought something bad had happened to him. He had to spend the next two days trying to make it up to her. That included cooking, cleaning, and worst of all…going shopping with her. She said he was off the hook only if he never scared her like that again. He let out an inward sigh of relief.

She had no idea that he was The Crow or what he really does on his night strolls and he planned on keeping it that way. He also learned that her brother James would be arriving in town in a few days and while he was in town, Itachi would be staying with Artemis next door as a favor to Carson. That too was a condition for him he had to meet in order to be forgiven.

Currently, Itachi was on the couch with Carson watching Gotham news. She was a big fan of the news surprisingly and an even bigger fan of Gotham's Dark Knight; the Batman. To her, Batman was a symbol of hope that Gotham could one day be redeemed. On the news currently was coverage of a villain he had taken down the night before, Clayface. The commissioner of GCPD was on and commenting on the arrest.

" _We'd like to thank the Batman for his help in taking down Clayface. I know most in the city do not approve of his methods or his existence as a whole, but it is without doubt that Gotham has been made safer since he has emerged. He is proof that there is hope for us to progress into the light, but also hope that true justice will be dished out to those who threaten that vision. Thank you and keep it up_."

The media was starting to ask questions when Carson suddenly muted the television and smiled, "He is so cool Itachi. I just wish he was here sooner so men like Black Mask could have never had risen to power. What do you think Itachi?"

Itachi didn't know how to feel about the masked vigilante. On one hand he was glad the city had someone guarding over it when others couldn't. On the other hand he knew that it would lead to a problem once the Batman figured out Itachi was on the prowl as well. It wouldn't lead to a peaceful resolution at all.

Carson was waiting for an answer so thoughtfully Itachi replied, "I think it is good that the people of Gotham has a protector like him, but because of how he protects the people Gotham will always live in fear."

Carson looked genuinely confused, "What do you mean? Is he good for us or bad for us?"

"Both. In the short term view, he is good for the city. With him watching over and fighting criminals that normal civilians can't, Gotham will be a safer place. But in the long term view of things, he is fighting a losing battle. His inability or unwillingness to kill will always continue this loop of chaos. He puts them away but sooner or later they break out and comeback to wreak havoc again. It's a pointless war he's fighting," he answered.

"So you think killing is the answer? That's how this city got so corrupted," she retorted.

"No, killing didn't corrupt this city. It was the people that inhabit it that ruined this city. Gotham reminds me of my home. There is a light side and a dark side that's always colliding against each other. It's up to people like Batman to keep that balance in check, but he alone isn't enough. This city suffers from people who lack of individual ability and the courage to do what is necessary, no matter the cost. If someone was there to kill the Black Mask instead of just letting him roam free because of a loophole in the law, things would be so much better for everyone including you Carson. Sometimes in order to stop a monster, you have to become a monster."

Carson turned towards her friend and looked him in the eye, "You don't ever have to become a monster Itachi and it's not on you to solve the problems of this city. You're right; we need to take back our streets from scum like Black Mask and we have to stop waiting on Batman. But I firmly believe without a doubt that killing is not the answer. We can beat monsters without lowering ourselves down to their level. We can rise above them," she then took his hands into hers, "Promise me that no matter what happens in the future, no matter what loss may occur that you won't be that monster. Stay how I see you now; my hero."

Itachi was moved by her words. Not since saying goodbye to his brother did he feel like his life had more to it then death and darkness. It was in this moment he realized something important, _'I may be her hero, but she is my light. Carson is genuinely a good person and I can't let that ever change.'_ He smiled at her kind words, "I promise."

She smiled back at him and hugged him before pulling away from embarrassment. Itachi didn't mind at all though. He got up and went to his room. Carson had class soon so he'd have most of the day to himself. Today he would buy tools that could help him when he's out in the field. He didn't need much, just some kunai and shuriken. He saw that they were sold in downtown Gotham so he'd pay that store a visit and commence with his plan to take down Black mask.

He went to his drawer and pulled out a project he's been working on. Unbeknownst to his roommate, he had a drawer full of paper bomb tags that he's been formulating at nights after patrol. Using these tags and the kunai knives he would deal a severe blow into Black Mask's criminal organization. Tonight Itachi was going to blow up Black Mask's cache that contained all of his revenue and funds; all twenty-two million dollars of it.

The crime lord kept all of his money in one place, the abandoned train station in Miagani Island. No one dared enter there because of it being claimed by Sionis. Very few knew what he kept hidden there but by the amount of guards he had stationed around the clock, it must have been important. That thug Itachi interrogated the other day had just finished a shift there by some stroke of luck which is how Itachi learned of its existence.

 _'Apparently, the reason he kept all of his cash in one spot is so that it could be the guarded by his most trusted men around the clock, or at least that's what he tells his subordinates.'_ He hypothesized.

 _'The real reason he does it is so that what happened with Carson's father could never happen again. Sionis wasn't going to have one of his underlings steal a million dollars right from under his nose ever again, and if it did happen there is no way that person would leave that train station alive. His paranoia will be his downfall though because tonight every dollar he has, along with his hopes of ever controlling this city, goes up in flames,'_ he thought.

He got some paper bombs and sealed them away in a kanji that was hidden up his sleeve. Just as he did he heard Carson yell, "Itachi! I'm heading out for class! Oh, if you leave the apartment at least leave a note telling me when you'll be back so I don't get worried! Have a good one," she then left out of the door shutting it behind her.

Itachi could swear there were times where he couldn't tell whether or not Carson was his roommate or his mother. Deciding not to dwell on it too much, Itachi grabbed his crow mask, sealed it away, and left out to buy the tools he needed to cripple Sionis tonight.

* * *

Carson had been in school for a few hours now and like always she counted the seconds until she got to go back home. It's not like she dislikes class, she just figured she could find so many more productive things to do with her time…like shop, relax, and hangout with Itachi whenever he could bother to be home that is.

She sighed outwardly. For the past few days he's been gone throughout the evening, not returning until late into the night. She wanted to respect his privacy, but a big part of her wondered just what he did at nights.

' _Does he have a job, maybe he works out at night…what if he's secretly meeting with another girl?'_ Okay, she knew the last thought was crazy but at this rate anything is a possibility with Itachi.

She was brought out of her thoughts when some students that were passing by the table she was sitting were having an interesting debate so she decided to eavesdrop, "Man, can you believe it? The Crow took out another group of gangbangers. It's so cool!"

"I don't know. I mean there's still a reasonable doubt as to whether or not this guy is even real. Plus, what if he's just another sidekick to Batman? Is he fighting crime or building an army?"

"No way he's with the Bat. Tim said that the moves that he used were different than the moves Batman and Robin used. He said it was like he was watching a surgeon the way that the Crow took out those thugs down when he saved Tim."

"Yeah, don't remind me. Tim wouldn't shut up about it for the whole next two days. Says that what he saw inspired him. I just think he was scared so his mind played tricks on him. In the end I hope Tim is right and he's a vigilante that is independent from the Batman and the Justice League because the monopoly of super powered freaks they have is making me feel less and less safe. We need someone who is strong enough to oppose them should they go rogue or step up should they fall."

"One thing for sure is that Batman won't be happy about another guy stealing his spotlight. My dad is on the force so he has firsthand experience in knowing that Batman is very territorial about Gotham. He doesn't even let Superman help out and he's basically our next door neighbor; so this Crow is really about to be in for it."

"Oh man I'd kill to see that fight..." Both of the boys fell out of Carson's hearing range and faded away. She too was curious about this Crow guy that had popped up out of nowhere recently. She was skeptical of it all because he was more of a legend than anything. The only proof of this guy's existence came from people like Tim who just happened to be in the area at the time. And an eight year old kid like Tim isn't exactly the most credible of sources, even if he is a prodigy and a genius. It's been a few days and neither the GCPD nor GCN has made comments on it so maybe that means they have their doubts as well.

She didn't know how to feel about him at the end of the day. While Gotham needed all of the help it could get, sometimes not all help is good help. According to the other students this Crow guy is a lot more brutal and violent than the Batman is which can't be good. ' _If he is real it's probably best if he's taken down before he goes too_ far,' she thought.

Just then the school bell rang signaling the students of Gotham Academy that the school day was over. The Academy now housed grades 7-12, and a new college campus that was state of the art from funding of Bruce Wayne himself. It was a miracle she got accepted into the academy, she had to really score high on tests and improve her grades just to be considered a viable choice for acceptance. She needed a lot of help to afford going to the school. Carla gave her a job, her brother James helped with tuition as well, and she also was one of the lucky few to receive a grant from none other than the billionaire Lex Luthor. It was part of an initiative to unite the neighboring cities of Gotham and Metropolis. She didn't know whether or not that was true but if it got her through school, then she didn't care.

She was walking out of the campus when she saw Artemis mingling with friends. She was about to run over to join them when she saw someone who stopped her in a tracks. After registering who this person was she burst out into a sprint until she crashed into him with one of the biggest hugs she's ever given in her life.

"I can't believe it, you're really here," Carson said now close to tears. She looked up to see none other than her brother James who had a big cheesy smile on his face. "I take it my goal of surprising you worked."

"Oh shut it you big jerk. This is amazing! I thought you wouldn't be here until at least Friday," she said.

"I talked to my commanding officer and she gave me the okay to go on leave early," he answered.

"This is so awesome. How long are you going to be here for James," She asked. His smile got even wider, "That's the good news Carson. My bosses approved my request to change stations and now I'm back here in Gotham permanently, or at least until they decide I'm needed elsewhere which with some luck won't happen for the remaining two years I have left on my term."

In all of her happiness over her brother being home, Carson had forgotten one key repercussion this would incur; Itachi. This means James would be moving back into his room and Itachi would have to leave without being seen or a big blow up would happen. Thinking fast she pulled her phone out and texted Artemis who looked at her from her group of friends wondering why she just didn't come over but once she saw James she was able to figure out pretty quickly why she didn't. She replied back with, ' _Don't worry I have work right after school, on the way back I'll let him know to head to my place instead_.'

Carson blew out a sigh of relief and mouthed thank you to her friend whom replied back with a wink. "Okay James, let's go home," James laughed sheepishly, "Well I was kind of hoping we could go get ice cream first. You know, at Luigi's, dad's favorite spot."

Carson laughed at her brother, "After all of this time in the military you still act like a little kid, it's almost embarrassing. Well here I thought we could enjoy some family time and I get to hear about you're cool army adventures like a mature adult, but what the hay, I guess that makes two of us, come on!" She then dashed ahead of her brother. "Last one there has to pay for it and I sure do love extra scoops on my ice cream so be ready James!"

James could only laugh and sprint to try to catch to up to his sister. Artemis watched on as she headed out to join her teammates. She heard a beep from her com and raised it to her ear answering, "Yeah Artemis here, don't worry Robin I just had to catch up with some friends but I'm on the way now."

* * *

It was currently ten at night and Itachi was staking out the abandoned train station on Miagani Island. Just as he predicted, there was an entire infantry of men who were only meant to guard the cash. Using his sharingan Itachi counted 25 men in total; 12 were in rotation guarding the perimeter outside, 12 inside the station, and one final man guarding the entrance to the money. Everyone was in a two man unit

"He should have had more men…" Itachi put his mask on and went to work, wanting to get this done swiftly before an unexpected surprise happened. Itachi summoned two crows that would get everything started. The first crow was for reconnaissance so he'd know what was going on around him at all times, the second was a distraction he'd use to create an opening. Both crows went forth and the operation had begun.

"Looks like another boring night. Doug sometimes I wish someone would at least try to steal from us so we'd get some type of action. The boss has everyone so scared that they don't even look in this direction."

"Bill, are you stupid? The reason why no one attacks is because no one knows about this place. The boss is really particular about who knows about his money ever since a few years back when one of his accountants made off big behind the bosses back," Doug said

"Yeah I heard about that. The lucky guy made off with a million big ones and the bosses favorite girl. Pretty safe to say that when the boss found out he was pretty pissed and has been paranoid ever since. He moved all of his funds and put in one big spot which is pretty much daring someone to try it. Problem is no one knows it's all here so there isn't anyone to take up that dare. It sucks because I really wanted to shoot something and when I took this gig I thought that was what I'd be doing, not be a glorified babysitter," Bill complained.

"Just be happy you don't have to shoot that gun of yours you hothead. If someone tries to steal the boss's money and succeeds, that's it for all of us. I'd rather be bored than dead, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, you're right…" then the sound of glass being broken was heard. "What was that?"

"I'll go check it out, watch my back Doug," Bill whispered. He crept up slowly to where the noise came from and had his weapon ready. He looked behind the counter and saw nothing but a crow that just flew past him like a bat out of hell. After taking a few minutes to calm down after being startled he went to signal to his partner that the coast was clear, "Alright false alarm, it was just a stupid…bird…" he stopped when he saw Doug hanging upside down with his mask removed and his face pretty much blue from lack of air.

"They aren't stupid birds…" he heard a voice say from the darkness. He then saw Doug's mask get thrown his way and the red glaring eyes that threw them that were behind a crow mask, the same mask that's been rumored to be messing with their operations for the past few days. "They're called crows," Bill didn't even have time to cry out before he was silenced by a crushing blow. Itachi then hid the unconscious thugs so that their partners wouldn't see them.

He repeated this process for the rest of the squad guarding the outside. It was embarrassing how easy it was. None of these men even put up a fight; it was like fighting genin fresh out of the academy. After dispatching the men and putting them away safely, he treaded inside the station to face the rest of the men. With these thugs, he didn't have to be quiet since the station was so big, no sounds would be heard from the outside. He sent his distraction crow ahead to scout everything and get a read on where everyone's position.

The crow saw that everyone was bunched together as they were about to switch shifts and partners. ' _Good, they're all in one place so I can just hit them hard and get it over with.'_ He placed a paper bomb on the wall most adjacent to them and waited for the perfect moment. His crow on the inside caused another distraction that drew their attention towards the wall Itachi had armed.

"I don't like this, first alpha squad ignores the routine check in and now we got random bird's coming down here. We might as well take care of this before it causes something major to happen."

"Just be glad Sportsmaster isn't running our shift anymore, dude is a real jerk and I'd tell him that to his face if I wasn't so scared he'd break mine," the others laughed as they cornered Itachi's crow.

"Night night little birdie," the crow then screeched and flew upwards, surprising the 12 men. Itachi then set his paper bomb off and blew the wall down on top of most of them, knocking them out. Only two survived to see The Crow walk out of the newly formed hole. They quickly scrambled to reach for their guns, but Itachi used his shuriken to disarm them. Now scared of what The Crow might do to them without their guns, the two thugs got up to run away but were blindsided by Itachi's speed. He grabbed one of them from behind and threw him towards a wall. The other one tried to fist fight with him but Itachi spared him a quick embarrassment by catching his wrist and breaking it, causing the goon to wail in pain. Itachi delivered a crushing right cross to incapacitate him. He only had one more left and that was the man guarding the money behind the safe itself. He started moving towards the safe but stopped when he thought he heard something. One of the thugs wasn't as unconscious as he thought and had him at gunpoint from behind.

"I don't know who you are freak, but this is where you die," the thug threatened. Itachi had a kunai ready underneath his sleeve. He was just waiting for his moment.

"What? Don't have anything to say! You're just a coward! You and all of the other costumed freaks like you. It's funny that all it takes is a gun to even the odds again you freaks," he ranted.

Itachi chuckled at him, "You think the odds are evened? You oppress the people of this city with those guns and fear, and you think you are the noble ones? I do think it is funny. I just recently had a friend tell me that I didn't need to become a monster to beat one, it's only now that I realize how right they were. Because you're not monsters, you are cowards. People who just prey on the weak and powerless so that for once you have someone who will tremble in fear over you. But I'm not weak, nor am I powerless," Itachi started as turned around with his mangekyo sharingan activated.

"You stop now! If you take another step I swear on everything that I love that I'll blow your head off," Itachi then stopped. The thug smirked underneath his mask as he started to pull the trigger. He didn't know that Itachi's crow was still in the area and just at the last moment it swooped in and started attacking him to protect Itachi. Itachi now seeing his moment launched his kunai at his assailant which. It successfully disarmed the glock from his hands while Itachi dashed towards him and landed a powerful blow to his body that sent him flying.

Itachi walked up to him as he was on the floor coughing up blood and on the edge of being unconscious. The Crow lifted him up by his lapels and took his mask off. He stared at him, as if he was searching the deepest corners of his souls before whispering these last words to him, "I…am…the real monster." Itachi then placed him in a genjutsu where he lived out the most painful moment of his life over and over until he was rendered into nothing but a state of stupor.

His crow flew to him and landed on his shoulder and they went to take out the last man and finish the mission. As he had deduced earlier, the safe was locked down tight and the money would be inaccessible to most that didn't have the pass key, but Itachi was not most. Summoning out his paper bomb tags, Itachi set his plan in motion. Placing a tag on the weakest points of the safe that he saw thanks to his sharingan, he was ready to blow that safe wide open. After the last tag was placed he decided to give fair warning, "If you can hear me, I suggest you back away from the door or this will hurt… a lot."

The man on the other side scrunched his face in confusion at hearing that, "I don't know who you are freak, but I suggest that unless you wanna get filled with lead that you leave this whole damn station! My men will be here soon as I radio them in," he then began to call for backup but got no answer…from anyone. They had all been taken out and he was the last man standing.

Itachi, having taken that as his answer, set the bombs off. The pure impact from the collective explosions knocked to last guard out cold. The door to the safe was blown apart, allowing The Crow to just walk in. Now that he was in the final stages of his plan, Itachi summoned forth the final set of paper bombs that he had left. He placed all of them on and around the pile of money owned by Black Mask. After being satisfied with everything, he got the unconscious guard and took him to where he would be safe from the blast.

He then set the bombs off and watched as the green paper go up in flames. Millions upon millions of dollars were being burned away. ' _It's time someone took something important away from him, it's just too bad all he cares about is his money,'_ he thought.

* * *

Itachi wound up and collected the rest of the guards from in and outside of the station for the police to pick up. The blaze had consumed the entire station and almost represented something symbolic. He was about to leave when his second crow had alerted him that another presence had come to the scene. He was about to seek it out but quickly found out who it was when he saw none other than a batarang thrown at him, which he quickly countered with a shuriken of his own. They collided and saw that it was indeed the Batman himself who had thrown it.

 _'Looks like our meeting is happening faster than I thought it would_ ,' he thought. Batman was a sight to behold. He towered over him at 6'4 and looked to be about 230 pounds. Itachi could see why he was to be feared. Batman glared at The Crow and saw his work. _'Twenty-five men incapacitated and a train station that is engulfed in flames, it seems this guy has had training. I can't take him lightly from how he countered my batarang, it was the perfect counter and to be able to do it from a place of disadvantage and surprise means he is special,'_ he deduced.

"I don't want to fight you Batman, but if you interfere then you'll leave me no choice," Itachi started. Bruce didn't take too kindly to being threatened.

"Then I guess you have no choice then," he snarled as he launched three more batarangs. Itachi countered with three shuriken of his own. It ended in a stalemate but Itachi stayed on the move and went to be the aggressor. He launched a kunai at the dark knight that had a paper bomb attached to it so that when it hit the building Batman was on it would take away his footing. Batman dodged the knife, but the explosion went off and sent him forward towards Itachi's position. Batman quickly recovered though and responded by throwing smoke bombs at the Crow to hide where his landing spot would be. Using his sharingan, Itachi saw through the ploy and reacted by leaping into the air and launching shuriken at Batman.

The Batman didn't see his opponent leap into the air and had to react fast when he heard the whizzing sound of flying shuriken. Grabbing a stray batarang, he deflected most of them but one did get through his defenses and cut him. Reacting quickly before another wave could be launched, he used his grappling gun to escape the smoke but the hook of it was caught by the Crow himself, and soon Bruce found himself being hurdled across rooftops. He stopped the Crow when he sent out a shock through his grappling gun that hit the Crow and sent him flying. Batman was then able to reset and grapple away safely.

Itachi was surprised by the shock and had to react quickly to land on his feet on a nearby rooftop. ' _If I don't end this quickly more people will be drawn by the flames and a big crowd is not what I need right now. Its time to disappear.'_

Bruce knew he couldn't make any more mistakes like the smoke bombs or it would end up badly for him, ' _This guy isn't really trying to fight me, more like he's simply countering and trying to evade me. He's good, good enough that I can't make mistakes with him or it'll end with me being on the losing side of this and I don't lose. I bet he'll try to escape with this next move because the more time that passes the more likely that people will get here to assist me, I'll be ready for his next attack.'_

Batman decided to rush him for hand to hand combat. He thought that since he was so adept in weaponry that his best bet at dragging this out would be for a straight out fight. The Crow was an all-around fighter though so when they engaged in a battle of physical will it quickly turned into Itachi's favor. His taijutsu and sharingan combination was more than enough to overwhelm anyone. He saw though the dark knight's fighting style and dismantled it piece by piece. It didn't matter how many times he would switch styles, Itachi would see it and counter it accordingly. For each jab/cross, there was a hook kick counter that the Crow threw, for each grapple hold, Itachi knew and executed its reversal much to the disarray of Bruce. It became clear to the both of them pretty quickly that the Crow was on a far more advance level and on the verge of winning this. His taijutsu and strength was wearing on Batman.

Batman having seen this wasn't going to end well decided to get some distance and used one of the few solid hits he got in to quickly retreat away. His bones ached and his was starting to tire out while his opponent has the same strength, speed, and impact as when the first started. Itachi saw his fatigue and knew that this was his moment to escape. In their series of exchanges, Itachi was weaving hand signs unbeknownst to Batman and was ready to make his move now. "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He then launched a volley of small fireballs, which he individually controlled with his chakra and was able to send them out in an unpredictable pattern towards Batman. Batman was shocked to see this, "So he is a meta!" He then tried to avoid them but saw by their speed that it was pointless and he wasn't going to avoid all of them. He used his cape to try to protect him since it can be heat resistance should the time call for it. He wrapped himself around it and braced for impact, but that was when Itachi sprang out his real attack. Hidden in the fireballs were chakra controlled shuriken that were primed towards Batman now that his vision was covered.

Batman heard the whizzing sound of shuriken and knew he had been tricked and went to evade them but it was too late as he was struck by them all. None of the hits were lethal, but the impact of them sent him flying off of the rooftop. Batman used his grappling gun and shot back upwards before he hit the ground. By the time he got back up though it was too late, the Crow was nowhere to be seen and the firefighters had just arrived on scene. Having realized he had just been bested, Bruce disappeared into the night.

* * *

Alfred was a man of few words or cares. He loved his job and his family in Bruce and Dick, but no amount of love for either of them would mean that he wouldn't let them know when either of them was wrong, and tonight that honor goes to none other than Master Bruce himself. He can be so hard of hearing sometimes it's scary.

So when Bruce came out of the batmobile with his batsuit all torn up, him bloodied and bruised, and wearing the worst scowl he's had in years it was pretty safe to assume tonight was going to be one of those nights.

"Alfred I won't be going to my lunch at three tomorrow, please inform Ms. Vale for me," he started. "Tonight I just went up against and lost to the most trained opponent I've faced since Slade Wilson. This 'Crow' was trained, had metahuman abilities, and had fighting experience of a battle trained warrior. Moves that I usually make in the field that no one is fast to react to, he was not only fast enough but knew the exact counter to them. His attacks were calculating but lucid enough that he was left time to switch up and improvise on the fly. Bottom line; he is good, no he is very good and I need to know where he stands."

Alfred looked at Bruce and sighed. Looks like another case for Master Bruce that he'd obsess over. Well, the most he can do is support his ward and tend to his wounds. "Well Master Bruce you can worry about the Crow later. For now, we must tend to your wounds and you must tend to Master Dick."

"What happened to Dick," Bruce asked. "He and the team had another clash today. Or I should say Mr. West and Ms. Artemis did. Their constant is really putting a strain on the team and even cost them on the field today. He doesn't know how to get them to finally work together."

"I'm confident he and the team will be able to look past their differences and succeed, I'm not needed," he replied.

"That a lot of confidence to have in a child who is still learning what type of hero he wants to be Master Bruce. Perhaps some guidance on how to handle the situation is what's best for him," Alfred countered.

"He has earned every bit of confidence that I have in him Alfred. Dick is capable of doing anything he puts is mind to if he focuses on it and puts in the required effort. I did train him after all," he said while groaning from his injuries.

Alfred rushed to his side and began treating him, "That's a lot of ego and confidence you have in your training Master Bruce. How can you be so sure?"

Bruce smiled and took off his cowl, "Because you raised me…so in the end it's almost like you were the one who trained him and I'll never doubt you Alfred. That's why I'm so confident."

Alfred was touched by his words and smiled back, "Very well Master Bruce, it's time to treat those injuries. While they aren't fatal, stitches will be needed," Alfred then began to get his medical kit. "While I suture you up, we can discuss you ignoring my call to bring back up. Oh and trust me Master Bruce, you have a lot of wounds so this conversation will take quite the while."

He then pulled out the needle and thread and started to walk over to Bruce. Bruce knew he was in trouble and groaned at the long agonizing process that he was about to endure. Not from being stitched up by his butler, but from the tongue lashing he was about to get from his father figure. ' _Another reason why I'm going to get that Crow,'_ he thought.

* * *

Itachi was standing on the rooftop across from Carson's apartment. He felt someone inside with her and used his sharingan to see that it was none other than her brother James. They were currently on the couch laughing and watching television. He saw empty tubs of ice cream and boxes of pizza as well.

 _It seems like she's enjoying her time with her brother. It makes me wonder what could have been if my family wasn't so hell-bent on war with the village. Maybe that could have been Sasuke and I_ , he pondered internally.

He took his mask off and began to head inside when he heard the sound of on object cutting through the air. _That is enough! I thought I made sure I wasn't followed back here with my crow, but it seems this Batman wants round 2. Well so be it_.

He activated his sharingan and turned with lightning speed to catch the object that turned out to be an arrow. He thought it was strange since before the bat only used customized shuriken but now it's a special type of green arrow. He looked and saw why it was not like his earlier fight. For one it wasn't a hulking man that was staring him down, it was a slender blonde woman. And it was a woman that he knew too.

"I heard about you Crow. You're quite famous around these parts, almost like an urban legend. Well I just had a crappy day at work so I need to blow off some steam. And would you look at my luck to see some creep stalking my neighbor across a rooftop. Now I get to bust your legend!"

She then shot three more arrows at him which he dodged with ease. Itachi recognized her voice too. Becoming frustrated with her target moving and not even putting up any fight, she decided to go for a more hands on approach. She rushed him with the intent of engaging in hand to hand combat but Itachi had no desire to fight a friend.

"Stop this Artemis, enough is enough," he said. When Artemis heard him speak her name she stopped in her tracks. She then took a closer look at him and saw that his mask was indeed off. She thought his voice sounded familiar and as it turns out, The Crow is none other than Itachi.

"Wait, Itachi you're the Crow? I'm so lost and confused right now," she said while seeing that it was indeed her neighbor's roommate. Itachi took his hood off so his face was in clear view and deactivated his sharingan to help her recognize him.

"I know this seems like a lot, and I do plan on explaining myself, but perhaps we should do this inside instead of out here in the open," he suggested.

She nodded and took her mask as well. "Why do I always get put in these positions?"  
She asked herself. Itachi sighed internally, knowing that his night definitely didn't end the way he had hoped it would.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait for the update guys. I hope I didn't make Itachi too powerful or change him in a way other than what you're used to seeing him, if I did please let me know. I'll try to do better and get on a writing schedule to pump these out faster. Let me know what you think and any suggestions you all might have for the direction of the story. Till next time (hopefully soon), have a good one and I hope you enjoy the chapter guys and gals!


	8. Consequences

Itachi and Artemis were back in her apartment. She wanted to hear Itachi out before casting any preconceived judgments. They were currently in the spare room drinking tea that she had her mother make. Drinking tea always calmed her nerves whenever she was getting anxious and finding out that your friend's roommate is moonlighting as a vigilante is something that can get you pretty anxious. Itachi was sipping his tea with a look of calm on his face that perplexed and unnerved Artemis even more.

 _'I just found out this dude's secret but he's acting like nothing has happened. I can't get a read on him at all,'_ she thought.

"Well let's start with what you were doing on that rooftop and why you're doing something so stupid like being a vigilante when doing that put's the people close to you at risk," Artemis started.

Itachi put is cup of tea down and after a long pause turned towards Artemis, "I'm doing this for the people of this city that can't. And as for the people that I care about, they are in no risk at all."

"Oh really, do you have training? What about any special abilities? Or did you just wake up one day and decide to put yourself and those around you at risk like an idiot," she ranted trying to wrap her brain around why a sweet guy like Itachi would be doing this. She had heard some of the stories about the cruel things the Crow had done; they just don't seem to fit to him.

"Yes, I have training. That much should be obvious from how I caught your arrow earlier. And to answer your last question, I put myself at risk so that those around me don't have to live in fear of common thugs anymore. Besides, if I were to die it's not like I'll be missed by anyone here," he said calmly.

"Wow, a man of few words. You know from how Carson talks about you I would have thought you two were a lot closer than that." She saw how Itachi had to pause from that jab and smiled. Itachi knew she had seen through his attempt of misdirection. Part of being a good liar is more than coming up with a feasible story on the fly; it's being able to combine parts of the truth with parts of a lie while making sure that both sides flow together until they eventually do become you're truth. He's obviously been out of practice.

"She and I, we…it's complicated. That's not what's important though, what really matters is me taking down Black Mask. That is why I put on the mask. Once he's dealt with I'll stop," he replied.

"I'm not telling you to stop, hell you just saw me in a costume and mask too. What I'm saying is you need to be careful. Carson told me that when she found you, you were alone on the streets and unconscious. You've probably been alone for most of your life and had to only worry about yourself. Carson, on the other hand, has always had someone watching out for her though; you and Carson don't exactly come from the same upbringing," she said.

"I'd never do anything to put her in harm's way. I owe a lot to her…when I first started doing this it was for the sole purpose of getting revenge for Carson and her family, but after seeing firsthand how much damage that would-be tyrant has caused and just how many people and their families he has hurt, it made me realize just how unprotected this city is," he spoke truthfully.

Artemis sympathized with him. He spoke again except with a lot more conviction in his voice, "Ever since I was four years old, all I have ever wanted was for the fighting to stop and for there to be peace. Right now my only goal is to take this man down so that his victims can finally feel like they can live their lives without fear of him. If donning that crow mask helps further that cause then I'll do it, especially if no one else will."

"Itachi if you bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, it'll destroy you. Everyone needs help, even Superman and he's the closest thing we have to a God on this planet. The world is just too big for one man to try and change it," she responded. That's how her mentor Oliver sold her on joining the team. "A man with conviction can move mountains, but a team with a harmonious goal can truly change the world, that's what someone once told me Itachi."

Itachi mulled on her words silently. She had a point and even he had admitted earlier that his flaw in his attempt of trying to save his family was that he did it alone instead of trusting in Sasuke, now all of these years later here he was making the same mistakes again. He needed to trust in others. Because of how gifted he's been it was always so easy to just rely on his own abilities, and for a long time he didn't have to depend on anyone other than himself. It wasn't until he met Naruto and saw the devotion he had in Sasuke that he learned to finally put his faith into others.

"You're right Artemis, I can't do this alone. I have to learn to trust in others, even if it's just for them to give me a different point of view on things. Thank you for the advice," he finished with a smile.

She was shocked. She was so used to her words being ignored by the team, specifically Wally, that it made her have to do a double take. He had just admitted she was right, and even thanked her. "So what did you do tonight before this whole fiasco," she asked.

"I blew up all of Black Mask's money; I set every bit of it up in flames. But on the way back I ran into Batman and had to deal with him before the others could make it to the scene, and after that I was going to return home but I saw that Carson's brother was there and was deciding on what to do next when you arrived," he answered.

She was still stuck on the part where he said he fought Batman. How were they having this conversation if that had happened, unless he actually beat him? "Wait you fought Batman? How are you not black and blue everywhere? Do you know how skilled he is?"

"He's very skilled. I can tell he's had excellent training, but the element of surprise and misdirection was on my side. Sometimes that's all it takes," he said.

She sat there amazed, 'I _f he beat Batman of all people that means he must have had extensive training. I don't think I've heard of Batman losing ever, there sure is a lot more to Itachi than his pretty face.'_

"Well you'll have to show me some moves then if you're that good. And for what to do about James being back Carson suggested that you stay with me, and since you're already here you might as well stay," She then got up to leave, "I'm about to head to bed. With everything that's happened today I think a good night's sleep is needed. You can sleep in here while you stay, my mom won't mind at all. She enjoys the company of my friends, the few of them that exist anyway. Well, goodnight."

She then left out of the room. Itachi just sat there thinking, ' _Well I guess I don't have a choice now do I. I guess I can go see Carson tomorrow. I'm sure she'll appreciate it.'_

He was about to go to sleep when Artemis popped her head back through the door with a devilish smile on her face, "Oh and since I'm keeping your secretfor you, that means you owe me one in the future. Just letting you know," she said in a serious yet teasing tone.

At hearing this Itachi groaned inwardly, ' _I hate owing people_.'

* * *

Roman Sionis was not a man to be trifled with on his best days, so when he got the news of what happened to all of his money everybody feared for what he would do next. So when all of his underlings were summoned, they were shocked to see their boss was laughing like a madman. You would have thought he had seen a comedy show by how wildly he was behaving.

One of the brave henchmen chose to speak up, "Um boss…are you okay-" he never got to finish that sentence when Sionis blasted his head off with a powerful semiautomatic shotgun. He then started to laugh again.

"Well that's another one that bites the dust. Am I okay? DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU IDIOTS! I just lost everything I have worked so hard to get over these years in the slums. I didn't just lose all of my money, I lost my business partners' money too; all 22 million of it. WHO BLOWS UP 22 MILLION DOLLARS? Do you know how many people had to die for that money, DO ANY OF YOU KNOW!?"

All of the thugs shook their heads in fear that if they answered audibly they would have their heads blown off too. Their boss continued on his rage and alcohol induced rant, "Years of dealing with Batman and his little sidekick, and not a penny wasted," he then took another swig of alcohol, "but after one unfortunate run-in with this-this Crow, and now all of a sudden I find myself in the welfare line with the rest of you pathetic losers! Now what am I going to do? It won't be long before my now former business associates come after me for losing their money and when they do I'll be as good as dead."

His adviser walked up to him and tried to placate him, "We just need to show them that they can still have enough reason to trust us to correct this. We need to punish the one responsible for this; make an example out of him."

"How? We don't even know who this bastard is or what the hell he wants. So killing or extorting him isn't a feasible answer," he said dejectedly.

His longtime friend smiled at him and let him in on what he was thinking, "Don't you find it odd how this guy just randomly pops up at the same time that you try to get Agatha's daughter back here. I mean what are the odds of it happening that every time you make an attempt on Carson, this Crow guy showed up to save the day."

Black Mask was starting to connect the dots on what he was saying, "You think they are connected somehow? That she knows who he is?"

"I think it goes deeper than that. Ever since the first time we sent Lou to get her, this Crow guy has been up our ass trying to usurp us at every corner. All of the attacks from doctors' reports that we paid to keep concealed says that they all have the same patterns of injuries, meaning this guy has been trying to stop us from the very beginning."

"Yeah but ever since Lou failed at getting her from her apartment, he's been a ghost. A cheetah couldn't have run away faster than he did," Roman mused.

"That's because he knew you would have killed him for failing twice. You don't believe in third chances," he replied. Roman couldn't help but nod at his friend. "It's true; I would have killed him and his wife and kids right on the spot for failing as much as he did. If I had known, though, that this Crow was the source of these roadblocks I would have at least heard him out until he gave me a name and then shoot him and his family. Another missed opportunity."

"Maybe not boss. Think about it. This Carson girl has been pretty isolated since her father started pushing up daisies. She doesn't have that many people who would care enough about her to challenge you. In fact, I can name them all with just one hand; Agatha, Carla, and her brother James. Now of those three names, who do you think would be most capable of pulling off the vigilante shtick best?"

"James. He's had military training from his time in the army. That bastard," Roman growled out as his rage now found a target. His friend having picked up on this continued, "And I happen to know that little James has been back in town for weeks undercover. All thanks to the info provided to us by his commanding officer. Money well spent if I do say so myself. I even know that James is even currently staying with his sister now so it shouldn't even be that difficult for us to go get him and make an example out of him."

"Not just him, we get Carson too. They both must pay the piper. Agatha will just have to make new children," he said while straightening up his attire. He planned to make them both pay for challenging him. ' _They will pay slowly and painfully with their lives_ ,' he thought blissfully.

"Doing this will restore the Light's faith in us and ensure that we get continued support from them. David, I need you to make a phone call to our friend in the GCPD; Lieutenant Phil Pierce. Tell him I need Carson's entire apartment along with surrounding street camera's disabled. No wasting time, we do this tonight," Roman declared.

"Which of the men should I send to get them," David asked.

"Just send some over now to keep tabs on them, but I want to be the one who raids the apartment. I feel this needs a more personal touch," he answered.

"Very well, I'll make the phone call now." David then left satisfied. He would handle his end and this whole dilemma would be solved before there was any hell to pay.

Roman cracked his knuckles and took another swig of his drink. He then turned to address his men with renewed confidence, "This madness ends tonight! We will get back our control over this city, stomp out anyone who would dare challenge us again, and show Gotham what real darkness looks like! The kid gloves come off, to the False Face Society!"

His men then roared back, "To the False Face Society!"

* * *

Itachi woke up early and was trying to plan out his day. He figured after last night he'd let Black Mask stew in his rage, at least for a day or so. In the meantime Itachi was hoping to lay low until he caught wind of whatever retaliation that would be coming his way. He got up and put his mask back into his seal and left out of the spare room. He then saw a note that was left next to the door. It was from Artemis, "I hope you slept well Itachi. Sorry, I'd greet you myself but I got called in for work. This happens from time to time but I should be back within the end of the day so don't get into any trouble since I won't be there to give you a hand."

He stayed stoic as he read the note. He flipped it over to see that it had more written on it and started reading the rest of it silently to himself, "Oh and P.S. - You should go spend some time with Carson. After I left last night she started texting me asking about you. She wanted to make sure you made it back safely. It's cute seeing her worry about you, I think you spending the day with her would placate her worries and I'm sure she'll appreciate the time with you. Have a good day and don't lay your charm on her too much!"

He put the note away and sighed. He knew she was right, but did she have to be so flamboyant with it. He didn't mind spending time with Carson at all. He actually enjoys her company, but after what Artemis talked about with him last night he wanted to make sure that she stayed safe. He figured them going to the park would be the best bet. ' _There's no way they'd risk attacking in such a public place after their margin of error got drastically cut by losing all of that money. Plus, they still have no idea who I am under the mask_ ,' he reasoned.

He was about to head out when a woman in a wheelchair greeted him, "Hello there, I'm Paula Crock. You must be my daughter's friend Itachi. She's quite smitten with you. She refers to you as the 'hot neighbor from across the hall'. Are you going off somewhere already? I made breakfast for my daughter but that girl is always in such a rush that she never stops to relax for a bit. Will you stay and chat for a bit?"

Itachi stood there silent. This woman did just allow him, a complete stranger, to sleep in their home just off of her daughter's word. The least he could do to repay that kindness was stay and enjoy a peaceful meal with her. He also wanted to get to know Artemis more and was sure the girl wasn't too keen on opening up.

"Of course I can stay," He said before flashing a smile of gratitude. He then got plates and went over to the kitchen table. There they would sit and enjoy the food she cooked. It almost reminded him of his interactions with his own mother. She spoke glowingly about Artemis, he could tell she really loves and is proud of her daughter. They had spoken for about an hour when Itachi got up to leave. Carson didn't have class today so Itachi figured her schedule would be free unless she had already made plans to hang out with her brother.

He turned and bowed his head at Paula, "Thank you for the meal and for the conversation. Sometimes it's nice to sit back and be thankful what life has given to us."

She smiled back at him, "No, thank you. I never get to talk with Artemis's friends so knowing that she has made a kind friend like you is a relief. Hopefully next time my daughter can be here to join us. Well have a nice day and don't forget we have a spare key under the mat, though I should be here whenever you need to come back."

"Thank you," He said before heading out. He went to knock on Carson's door. After she didn't answer the first knock, he figured she must have left earlier. He felt a tinge of disappointment but quickly cast it aside and went to go on his own. Just when he was about to turn to leave though the door swung open and out came Carson to give him a bone crushing hug.

She looked up and smiled brightly at him and he couldn't help but smile back. "How was it at Artemis's place? She said that you were so silent it was like you were never even there. Did you eat? My brother won't be back until a little later so maybe we could go get something to eat? Oh and-," but Itachi stopped her before she could continue on her tangent.

"How about we go inside to talk? You have a bad habit of asking questions and then not letting me answer them," he said as he went inside her apartment.

As soon as he walked in he could already see that it went right back to being the mess it was when he first got here. ' _It seems they're both against cleaning after themselves_ ,' he thought while shaking his head.

As if reading his mind, Carson started to tidy up as much as she could on short notice and gave a quick apology. They sat down on the couch and he listened while she described her day yesterday. She spoke about getting to see her brother and how much fun she had with him. He could tell Carson truly loved her brother by how she spoke about him. Though she did crack the occasional joke or two about him, it mostly was her commenting how it felt like old times again.

"It was nice overall and I don't have any complaints, how about you Itachi? What did you do after I left for school," she asked. Itachi stayed silent for a while. At first Carson thought he was going to ignore her when he opened up and said, "I mostly stayed in the park to enjoy the outdoors. When it came time to return back I saw that your brother was already there. It was good that Artemis had just gotten off of work and saw me to invite me inside her home. We talked and I went to sleep afterwards. I woke up, had breakfast with Artemis's mother, and went outside to be bear hugged by you."

Caron blushed from embarrassment before apologizing again but Itachi stopped her before she could finish, "No need to apologize…it was nice," he said shyly. Carson then started to joke with him, "Aw, would you look at that. It looks like I'm rubbing off on you. I remember when we first met it was like pulling teeth just to get you to say more than five words to me, but look at us now; telling each other about our days."

Itachi thought about what she said and she was right. When he first got here he was cold and distant towards her, but after getting to know her he could honestly say that she has become someone he has learned to care for. She's helped him more than she could ever know just by the kindness she's shown to him. He still doubts, though, that he'll ever tell her about his life before meeting her for obvious reasons.

"I mean you still seem allergic to conversations at times, but progress is progress. And speaking of progress," she then started to eye and feel through Itachi's hair much to his annoyance. Since she had him cut it, his hair has almost grown back to its original length. "I think it's time for another haircut Itachi. You know…I was kinda hoping to cut your hair this time and-," but Itachi didn't even have to let her finish before know that his answer would be an emphatic no.

"Come on, please. You know you wanna." Itachi yet again shot her down hard. "No, I don't. Maybe next time Carson." He then poked her in the forehead like he used to do with Sasuke.

"No fair, you never want to do anything fun Itachi. Hey, where are you going," she said while rubbing her forehead. Itachi had gotten up and went to the door. "We're going to the park so that you can finally know why I like these peaceful walks, come on."

She smiled with excitement and followed Itachi out. On the way she made sure to text James and let him know that she'd be gone with a friend. Her hope was that today she could introduce them to each other and hope it would be smooth and not awkward at all.

"Itachi, where exactly are we going by the way?" Itachi told her that they were going to the Wayne Botanical Gardens. It was open to the public and had the nicest flowers in the state. She never figured Itachi for a plant guy but she didn't judge. Itachi enjoyed it mostly because it was the closest reminder he had of the Leaf Village. They quickly left out to start their day together.

Across the street watching them leave was an all-white van. It had been there for a few hours now and the man inside quickly turned the engine on to continue his surveillance. His partner got out his phone and called his boss; the Black Mask.

"Boss, the girl is leaving the apartment with some random guy. Do you want us to follow them?" he asked.

"Yes, wait till I give the signal before snatching her up. I want this done simultaneously so that they can't warn each other," Roman ordered.

"I understand boss."

* * *

James was on his way back home from meeting with his superiors. As much as he wanted to spend more time with his sister, he knew that his duties came first. As a soldier, it was his mission to stop any threat that could harm the United States. About a month ago his superiors told him that a ripple was detected in the multiverse. He had to practically beg to be put on the job. After finally getting it he was stationed stateside under the umbrella of ARGUS. As their agent it was his job to locate the disturbance, determine its goal, and if determined hostile eliminate it.

He currently knew that the rip happened in Gotham so now all he had to do was find out who or what came out of it. His superiors allowed him to stay in Gotham with his sister as he worked on the case. Normally a job like this would go to someone with way more experience than him, but his commanding officer put the good word in for him so he was chosen out of the ten or so candidates. Funny, because he could swear that his CO didn't like him too much but he wouldn't complain if it means seeing Carson again.

She hasn't changed much since he left for the army. If anything she's started to show more of her true self again. He hadn't seen Carson this happy in a long time. When she gave him her infamously strong hugs it was like the good times. Hopefully nothing happens to ruin their time of peace.

He made it back to the room to see that his sister was still gone. "I guess I can catch up on some sleep while I'm the only one here," he surmised out loud but he then suddenly heard a voice that sent chills down his spine.

"Too bad you're not alone though kid. You just walked into the devil's playground. And I must say that you are dead, you are going to regret crossing me…Crow."

A confused James turned around and saw none other than the Black Mask himself. He quickly went to draw his pistol but was beat to it when Black Mask fired a shot that hit him in the shoulder first. He started bleeding and writhing in pain on the floor. Black Mask cackled at the boy while slowly walking over to him. He then kicked James in the ribs so hard that he flipped on his back. James tried to get back up be he was kneed in the face and quickly subdued.

"Kid, there are consequences to every action. My father taught me that when I was a young boy and then when the time came I shot him dead for all of the hell and abuse he made me endure; consequences. Ever since then no man has ever crossed paths with me without suffering consequences, just ask your late father. So when I found out that you were the one that has been disrupting my little operation I couldn't just stand by and let that keep happening. Now as a consequence, I'm going to beat the holy hell out of you James." James groaned in pain. He didn't know what this creep was talking about but his ribs hurt too much to speak, they must have been broken.

"I don't understand you kid. After I took your mother away and made your sister work for me I would have thought you learned you lesson." Black Mask pulled him up by his collar and grinned in his face. James spat the blood he was coughing up at the man's face. Roman for his part laughed at him, "Now that was uncalled for, I don't know what that was for James; you'll have to refresh my memory!" He then started to slap, punch and stomp on James repeatedly until he was barely conscious. He threw him throughout the apartment while wreaking everything.

"Was that because I took your mother or making your sister a criminal for me, hell maybe it was for what happened to dear old dad!" he then slammed James's head against the table and leaned down to look him in the eye before evilly whispering, "Maybe it was for what I'm going to do to your dear sister Carson the next time we meet. My men are picking her up now and I certainly hope she has more brains than you do kid. Spitting in my face huh, HOW DARE YOU!" Roman then started ramming his head over and over again.

James was on the cusp of death when the beating stopped, he was surprised to see Black Mask cleaning his hand with a towel as his men started to flood the apartment. "Don't worry, I won't kill you yet, Carson still has to see the show. Who knows, if she screams loud enough for me maybe I'll keep her as a spare for when her trash mother gets too old? Yeah I like the sound of that. You on the other hand should start saying your prayers because today is your last day on Earth and I promise you on my mother's grave that you'll pay for every cent that went up in flames; all 22 million dollars of it."

James passed out after that. Roman then had his men carry James out back so that they could continue this in the privacy of his base. Before leaving, Roman sent the text for his men to get Carson. He left out of the room with a gleeful smile in anticipation of what was to come later.

* * *

It was about four in the afternoon and Carson and Itachi were still at the gardens. They were currently sitting on a bench enjoying each other's company. Itachi was staring at the water fountain in front of them and reminisced on how Shisui would take him to the Forbidden Forest to train. Afterwards they would sight-see and stare out into the pond and reflect. It was when he most felt at peace. Carson on the other hand was not so subtly staring at Itachi trying to gauge what he was thinking. ' _He can be such an enigma at times and at others be so aloof looking_ ,' she thought.

He got her attention when he spoke her name, "Carson, if you're going to stare then at least try to be more inconspicuous about it. It's rude," he said.

She started blushing at being caught. "My bad, I guess I was staring hard. I was just trying to guess what you were thinking right now."

"Next time just ask me," he replied.

"How do I know that you'll answer," she retorted.

"You'll just have to ask to find out. Maybe I will, maybe I won't." he said stoically. She shook her head at him. As much progress as they have made, it's still nowhere close to where she wants it to be. Itachi just always seems to have a wall up, guarding against the slightest infraction. _'He must have had a really tough past,'_ she surmised silently.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked. Itachi looked deeper into the water and sighed. He didn't like letting people into his head. Even Sasuke had a hard time with getting through to him.

"I had a friend once, his name was Shisui. We'd go and sit by ponds like this and just talk, sometimes for hours. I missed doing that I suppose."

"What happened to your friend? How come you never introduced us?" she asked.

"He committed suicide a few years back, it was unexpected," he said quietly. He's just seen so much darkness and death that he learned to keep hidden away. Eventually, he knew that he would have to let the darkness and hate go if he was to ever progress forward. He still didn't know what to do after Sionis was dealt with. The sage sent him here to save the world, but from what exactly he still hadn't figured out and it troubled him. He thought going to the pond would help but it hasn't done much for him.

Carson immediately regretted asking the question. She put her put her hand over his hand and gave her sincerest apology, "I'm so sorry Itachi. I-I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. It's like the absolute worst thing to say always comes out of my mouth," she lamented.

"It's alright. Like I said, it happened years ago and there's no way you could have known. Remember I enjoy listening to you, so don't ever think you have to censor your thoughts for me," he said understandingly. Carson smiled at him and gripped his hand even harder _. 'Now I see why he likes the pond, it must be a way for him to still feel connected to his friend,'_ she realized.

She then got up and started to pull Itachi with her, "Come on. Let's go to my favorite place. My dad used to take my brother and me there all of the time to get ice cream. Hurry up slow poke it isn't far from here!"

Itachi shook his head at her and started to follow her. As they were walking he got a bad feeling all of a sudden. He had recognized that same van that was across the street from all the way back at the apartment. He was starting to think that they were being followed. Itachi made a mental note to handle them should they continue to the ice cream store with Carson and him.

As they crossed the street Itachi saw that the van was empty and really began to worry. Just as he was about to tell Carson to wait by the sidewalk while he investigated, a cylindrical item was rolled out by them. He quickly went to inspect it despite Carson's wishes. "Is that a bomb," He heard a small beeping noise emitting from it and pushed Carson back. He tried to jump out of the way but part of the blast still caught him.

The next thing he knew all of his senses were somehow distorted. His head started to throb and his ears rang so loud it felt like a church bell was right beside it. He tried to get up but his equilibrium was off quilter and he fell down again. He looked up through blurred vision to see two men rush and kidnap Carson. After seeing that he tried to activate his sharingan but his eyes wouldn't work. His chakra control was in disarray and the stress of it all made his eyes start to bleed. _'Even though I avoided most of it, that thing must have still somehow disrupted my chakra network,_ ' he figured.

He looked up through bloody eyes to one of the men walk up to him with a pistol in his hands. He had a skull mask on which told him he was aligned with Black Mask. He tried to hear what the man was saying but his ears were still in pain from the blast. In the distance he could see Carson struggling in another masked man's grip but ultimately be thrown into the back of the van. He tried to make one last ditch effort to save her but was stopped when he got punched in the midsection and fell back down. His hearing began to improve slightly because he could finally start to make out part of what the man was saying.

"Hello…yes but we…yeah okay…boss says I can't kill you…concussion grenade…senses are useless...no point struggling…okay okay I'm coming…shut her up…night night," Itachi then felt his vision go dark after being pistol-whipped. It wouldn't be until hours later when he would wake up. He opened his eyes to see that he was inside of an ambulance that was taking him to a hospital. He heard the paramedic talking to him but he paid him no attention, his only focus was on Carson and figuring out how to get her back.

Thinking quickly he broke out of the stretcher and opened the back of the ambulance to see that it was now dark out. Ignoring the pleas from the paramedic, he jumped out, landed on his feet, and dashed away all in one stride. He still felt weak from whatever it was that got him but he pushed through it knowing that Carson was taken and in danger. He summoned his crow mask and went to the Sionis Steel Mill to end this. When he got there though he discovered it was completely empty, it was like no one was ever there to begin with. He searched every tight space his sharingan could see and even summoned two of his crows but nothing was found.

Now tired and running out of options, Itachi decided that the best move would be to go back to Carson's apartment. His rationale was that he could retrace the van and come up with a clue as to where Carson was being held.

He quickly teleported away and ran as fast as he could to her apartment all the while lamenting how he could have let his happen. "What was that thing and how could I have been so careless as to fall for it. I should have seen it coming, now my weakness has put Carson in danger!" he said to himself as he dashed even faster.

* * *

He made it to the rooftop across from Carson's to see that the police had quarantined this who block off. No one could get in through the front because of an investigation. Itachi first felt it was strange but then he remembered that James was supposed to be staying there and after what happened to Carson he could be next. He snuck in through the back and entered her apartment. Sure enough, it was as he feared; everything was a mess. It looked like a tornado hit this place but most importantly James was nowhere to be found. He did see that there was a lot of blood everywhere, like someone was beaten pretty badly. "That must be why the police are out front, Roman must have taken James while we were gone," he concluded.

He tried to come up with a new plan but nothing came to mind. He was out of options and soon would be out of time unless something major changed. Just as he was about to grow even more frustrated he heard an object thrown his way. He quickly caught and to his dismay, saw that it was a batarang.

Now really losing patience he activated his sharingan and issued a threat, "I don't have time for this. I'm in a hurry so if you don't back off I can't promise you that I'll be as lenient as last time Batman."

The dark knight emerged from the shadows. "I got a tip that Black Mask aka Roman Sionis was responsible for this. According to police reports Roman orchestrated all of this chaos. It seems he is still as violent as ever."

Itachi was still on alert as Batman continued to assess the damage done. He stopped and examined the blood on the floor while typing on his gauntlets. After he was done he turned and addresses Itachi again.

"Crow, last time we met it was under the veil of the unknown, but you being here confirms a few hypothesizes of mine," he got the results back from the blood test he sent Alfred and sure enough it wound up being a match to James Collins. "The first one being that you indeed were the one that stopped the raid of Carla's Café. You saved a lot of lives that day. The next one is that you seem to know Carson Collins to some extent. As it turns out she too was abducted earlier. We can assume it was by Sionis as well and the fact that you are here instead of where ever they are seems to let me know that he has relocated from the Steel Mill base he used to operate out of."

Itachi was taken aback by how perceptive this man was. It was like looking in the mirror. "Despite our differences one thing about us we do have in common, and that is our need to protect Gotham. I don't like how you've been patrolling my streets or setting entire train stations on fire, but we need to move past it and operate quickly if we are to save the Collins family and put Black Mask away for good."

That was where the source of the problem began, "And how do you suppose we do that when we can't find them?" Itachi asked. Batman smirked at his question.

"Who says we don't know where to find them," Itachi's interest was at its peak, "I've been keeping tabs on a mole working for the Black Mask. He is a GCPD officer and has been getting paid off to look the other way on Roman and his men's transgressions. We squeeze him, we get Roman."

Itachi now wanted to find this man as soon as possible, "Give me a name and where to find him." He demanded. Batman held his hand out to temporarily quell Itachi, "Not so fast Crow. If we do this, it gets done my way. You are to follow my lead and under no circumstance are you to kill anyone. No one dies tonight," he said defiantly.

Itachi stayed patient and thought about the situation he was in. He had no leverage. While he could just use a genjutsu to make Batman tell him what he wanted to know, a part of him knew that he would need his help. He then remembered his last encounter with Naruto. He told him that power can make you arrogant and isolated. _'That's why Carson wound up in the danger she was in now; I got arrogant. I didn't treat Roman like the threat I should have. There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal,'_ Itachi thought.

If he was going to do this, it would be with Batman and him working together, "I accept your terms."

"Good, we move out now." He then went to the window and used his grappling gun to soar away with Itachi following close behind.

"Where are we going," Itachi asked.

"To the home of the one cop GCPD would least suspect of being dirty whose name isn't Jim Gordon," he replied courtly.

* * *

Phil was currently up late at night watching television. He didn't have to go to work the next day so he used it as an excuse to enjoy some downtime. He felt he needed it after when he got a phone call telling him to cut the cameras to an entire apartment complex. He knew that Black Mask was up to no good, but he needed the money; ever since the Café got closed for repairs he was the family's only source of income and it was weighing on him. But if he was being honest, that was just a crutch he told himself to try and justify his actions. He had been taking payments from Black Mask's crew for months before the attack.

At first he thought of it as a small side hustle. He got under the table payments to look the other way on Black Mask's operations. But over time looking the other way became providing information on witnesses/persons of interest, and now it has evolved into him being a full blown accomplice. When he saw on the news that the apartment was broken into and someone was taken because of it, he felt sick to his stomach. He hated himself, but he knew that he was already in too deep. If he tried to come clean, the only person who would suffer would be his wife Carla and she didn't deserve that.

He turned on to a taped game of the Gotham football game when all of a sudden the light in his house went out and he was shrouded in darkness. He knew he paid the light bill so why the power was off confused him especially when the backup generator didn't automatically turn on. He went towards the back to check everything out when he walked in to see none other than Batman standing in front of him.

He was terrified because he knew Batman being in his house must have meant that he knows that he is in lockstep with Black Mask. Just at that moment he could hear his wife come down the stairs, "Phil, what's going on? Why don't we have power because I could have sworn the bills were all paid?"

She walked in on him and Batman and shrieked, "What are you doing in our home!? Phil why is he here?"

He was about to answer her when he saw another figure standing just behind her. It was none other than the Crow too _. 'But why are him and Batman both here, what mess have I gotten myself into,'_ he lamented.

Carla soon felt the presence of someone behind her. She turned and screamed as loud as she could when she came face to face with the Crow. Itachi silenced her in seconds by putting her under a genjutsu that made her collapse into his arms. He put her down on the floor softly and turned his focus towards his real target.

Phil was now angry at the vigilante, "What the hell did you do to my wife freak!? You'll pay for that!" He then pulled his gun out and aimed it at Itachi. Itachi stood there not feeling threatened in the slightest. Before Phil could fire his weapon, Batman disarmed him with a batarang that knocked it out of his hands.

"We don't have time to fight Lieutenant Pierce. Lives are on the line and with each passing second they become more and more lost. I know it was you who shut the cameras down in Carson Collins's apartment building. Just like I know it was you who gave Black Mask inside info on when Carson would be at work when you had your wife's restaurant ransacked. Enough people have died from this man's madness; tell me where to find him so that we can end this nightmare. Or do you want two more bodies on your conscious." Batman said trying to reason with Phil.

"What, are you supposed to be the good cop Bats? That's funny, it really is. You think I fear you Batman, I fear Black Mask way more than you. You don't kill, but he does and I can't afford to lose my wife," Phil responded.

"You will lose her when she finds out the type of man you really are. How do you think she will react when she learns the truth; she'll leave and turn away from you. You're only hope is to do the right thing and tell us where he is. Don't forget that Carla cares about Carson too, she'll never forgive you if Carson dies because of your cowardice," he reasoned.

Phil was starting to have an eternal battle. He was screwed either way by how he saw it. He wanted to do the right thing and tell Batman, but the fear of losing his wife clouded his judgment. He chose against it in the end, "Go to hell, both of you in fact. I did nothing wrong here. My conscious is clear as long as my wife stays safe. She's all that I care about now. If some wise mouth girl has to die for my wife to live, then so be it," Phil said defiantly.

Batman shook his head, "It can't be helped then. We're running out of time." He then turned to leave. Phil was confused until he remembered the Crow behind him. He turned and saw that he and his wife were gone. He turned back towards Batman but saw that he was replaced with the Crow, who in the blink of an eye was in front of him. Itachi then put Phil into a genjutsu. Phil soon found himself surrounded by flames, searing hot black flames.

Phil now in a panicked state yelled in pain, "What's going on!? Where are we and what happened to my wife!?" An image of Itachi made of the flames appeared before Phil. "We're in hell, like how you said you wanted me to go. Only I decided to take you with me. Your wife is fine; she's in your bed. She'll wake up thinking everything was a dream, but you aren't so fortunate. You're about to live out your worst fear until you tell me what I want to know."

The flames then got hotter and started to burn Phil even more. He begged for it to stop but Itachi did nothing but watch him suffer, "I can do this all day. I control everything in this reality; even time. An eternity for you in here can just be just a few seconds in the real world. Tell me what I want to know and I'll stop this."

Phil could hardly breathe anymore. The pain he felt was unbearable. He looked down to see his skin melting away and screamed, "Okay, okay! They're at the Robinson Park docks. It's meant to be a last resort for them should they be compromised! There I told you everything, please stop the pain I'm begging you!" Itachi used his sharingan to render him unconscious, but unlike his wife he would remember everything that happened to him. Itachi hoped he remembered it for the rest of his miserable existence. _'You sold out the innocent who couldn't protect themselves for a tyrant like Sionis. You don't deserve peace_ ,' he thought bitterly.

He then left out to see Batman waiting for him outside, "They're at the Robinson Park docks. Let's head there now."

"The police commissioner has been informed of Pierce's treachery, he'll face justice for what he's done," he replied.

"Why did you try to reason with him? So much time got wasted because of that. I could have gotten the location a lot sooner and we'd be there by now," Itachi argued.

"Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves. The moment we take choice out of the equation is the moment we become no better than the monsters we try to stop," Batman said while grappling away. He was worried after hearing Phil scream but Itachi followed his end of the agreement by not killing him. _'Maybe the Crow can be a hero after all_ ,' he thought.

Itachi followed after him. He knew he was right; his poor handling of Sasuke in trying to take his choice away was a prime example of that. It backfired badly. It's why he showed Phil mercy. All he wants is to bring Carson and James back safe and avoid killing anyone if he could. He didn't want her to see him as a murderer. He wants to keep his promise to Carson and not sink to Black Mask's level, but should anything happen to Carson; the only justice he would seek that would be acceptable is Black Mask's death. That was a promise.

* * *

That's it for this chapter! It's the longest one yet. I hope you all enjoy it. The next chapter marks the end of the Black Mask arc. After that we will get into the next phase in Itachi's story; meeting The Team. I enjoy your feedback both positive and constructive so keep reviewing. Leave a suggestion and if I like it, I'll definitely consider putting it into the story. Till next time guys and gals!


	9. The Rift

Carson was in a horrible situation. She was currently strapped to a chair and being made to watch her brother be tortured. Black Mask was currently beating on James with brass knuckles on and had been doing so for the past twenty minutes. She had been forced to watch this barbarian beat on him ever since she had gotten here. Carson didn't know how James was even still conscious.

Black Mask was thoroughly enjoying himself. To him making James pay for all of the grief he has caused was poetic justice. By the time the siblings got to his compound James was unconscious, but he fixed that by giving him a high voltage shock that woke him up screaming. That was only the beginning of the fun he was going to have. In the hours that have passed James went through broken digits, higher voltage electric shocks, and physical abuse.

"Kid, you're tough. I can see why the Crow was such a nuisance, but that comes to an end. It won't be long before I reunite you with your bastard father. I just want to have some fun before the big finale." Roman gloated.

He then walked over to Carson with a slow predator like walk. With each step closer that he got Roman could see more and more dread come across Carson's face. When he made it to her he started to cackle evilly. He then caressed her face. She started to cry from how uncomfortable and scared he made her. All of her worst nightmares were coming true.

"Don't worry little girl, I won't hurt you. Hey, do you know how many women would kill to be in my crew. I take care of mine and starting tonight you belong to me. You'll learn to love it. I know your mother did. Just ask her yourself…she's right over there." He then pointed towards a dark corner in the room.

Out of the corner emerged none other than Carson and James's mother Agatha. Carson's face turned from sheer terror to pure rage. "Mom, you were there the entire time? You just sat there and let this madman do that to James. Oh, but why am I surprised; you've been letting him ruin our lives from the start. I hate you!"

Agatha had a look of pure shame. It had been so long since she had seen her children that she almost didn't recognize them at first. They had both grown so much in her eyes. It broke her heart to see them end up like this especially after all she tried to do to prevent this from happening.

Roman went to her and started to grope her in front of her children. "Agatha answers and belongs only to me; just like you do Carson. I'm going to make you both watch me kill James. He will be an example to everyone who dares to screw with me again!"

Agatha began to plead with Black Mask, "Roman you can't do this. You made a promise that they wouldn't be harmed. You swore-" she didn't get to finish as Roman hit her across her face. He sneered and pulled her up by her hair before growling at her.

"Don't you ever interrupt me again woman! If you do I swear I'll rip one of that boy's eyes out and feed it to your daughter, do I make myself clear?"

She nodded profusely out of fear for her children while spitting out an apology to Black Mask. Carson saw this and became incensed with fury. She was so angry that she started to shed tears. Carson was going to get this baggage off of her chest that she has been holding onto since her father died.

"Mom…you lying piece of trash. You used to always go off on what it means to be a mother by talking about family and sacrifice. You played us all like suckers huh! You're no real mother, you're a cancer. How dare you beg him for forgiveness! What about your husband who you left? Or what about me and James who you also abandoned? It was so easy for you to leave us, wasn't it? Why couldn't you choose us? Weren't we good enough for you, or did the fast life and drugs just prove too much of a temptation to resist. Darn you, I may have taken to dad more but that didn't mean that I didn't love you too! I knew all about your past and your struggles even from a young age. And after all of that, I still would have given anything in the world just to be half as brave as you were! Dad may have been my favorite, but mom you were always my hero!"

Agatha was stunned by her daughter's words. She had no reply to it. James knew all along about Carson's inner feelings. As much as she tried to pretend that she was over it, he knew that deep down she was still hurting and hoped that this confession could end her pain finally.

Black Mask looked on with a look of amusement. It was like he got to watch a soap opera on a big plasma screen television.

Carson wasn't done yet, "You know I'm glad I get to finally see you and the stupid look you have on your face after all of these years. I hope you're happy with yourself and your choices. You ruined our family, made dad commit suicide, and are about to get James killed! I was so wrong about you. I bet I could scour the entire Earth and not find any mother even a fraction as gutless as you! What was going through you're drugged up head when you left us! You're repulsive to me and I could never forgive you!"

She then turned her attention towards Black Mask, "I hate you even more Black Mask. Just looking at your face makes me absolutely sick! Seeing you destroy my family as if it was of no consequence to you makes me wanna puke. You are a revolting piece of trash with a diseased soul! You're pure evil and I can't wait to see the day when you're finally brought to justice for your crimes not just against my family, but against all of Gotham."

Roman laughed at her rant. "I'm sorry but am I supposed to take you serious while you're strapped to that chair. Please, maybe instead of being my girl I'll just make you my clown because you sure know how to make a guy laugh."

He then got serious and pulled out his gun, "Now that amateur hour is up," he then aimed it at James's head. "Let's start the real fun."

He was about to unload his clip into James when the power suddenly went out and all chaos ensued. James sprang out of his chair and tackled Black Mask to the ground while Agatha went to free Carson. Once they had got their bearings they scrambled out with the hope of finding an exit.

Black Mask got up, dusted his suit off, and picked his pistol back up. "I guess it's a game of cat and mouse; fine by me" he said with a sinister grin as he left to hunt his prey. He radioed his men to fix the power to the warehouse but got no response' only silence. He made note to do this quickly and escape as he figure that Batman must have come here for him. "You want me, well then come get me Bats! I'll be in the dark."

* * *

"The power grid has been completely shut down in your area Master Bruce." Alfred said.

"Good work." Bruce responded.

Batman and Crow surveyed the lay of the land from atop of a secluded rooftop. This place was swarming with armed guards so they figured that this has to be the place where Black Mask is holding Carson and James. Itachi did a quick scan with his sharingan so that he could form a plan.

"I count 40 men here. About ten of them are in that facility across from us, the rest are down below. It seems they were expecting us." Batman wondered how he did that so quickly but that was a question for another time. They first had to save the hostages and put Roman Sionis away for good.

"Do you have the location of Roman and the hostages?" Batman asked.

"I see four figures in the higher levels of that facility. That's most likely where Black Mask is holding them. The problem is that the only entrance seems to be through the lower levels that the 30 men outside are guarding." he answered.

"And with the ten men that are already inside, normal infiltration would prove to be problematic. The only way this works is if we slit up. One of us takes on the men outside while the other sneaks in and handles the guards in that warehouse station. We have to be in complete sync and we can't waste any time." Batman at this time wished Robin wasn't on a mission with his team. They could really use a third person right now.

"I agree with you…I'll take the men outside. It'll be easier for me. You use the distraction to make your way inside and when I'm done with them I'll catch up." Not waiting for a response Itachi leapt closer to get a better vantage point. He needed a way to get all of their attention at once so that Batman could sneak in undetected.

He spotted three black trucks and immediately came up with a way to distract them. He looked back at Batman who was waiting patiently back where they started and nodded. Batman then dropped to the ground level and began his infiltration. Crow, on the other hand, weaved the signs needed to begin his assault. "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He launched his volley of fireballs towards the trucks and set them ablaze. The blast knocked out all of the men that were close to them and, just as he predicted, he got all of their attention. The men turned and saw none other than the Crow himself which left all of them confused.

"It's the Crow!"

"But how? I thought we already got the Crow."

"What the hell? You should be dead by now."

"Who cares? Light the bastard up!" The last thug started shooting at Itachi, but he evaded masterfully and landed right in front of him. With a quick kick he sent the man flying and took him out of the fight. The rest of the men looked on scared.

After the initial shock, all of them men pounced on Itachi, or at least they tried to. Itachi was too fast for them to even touch him. One by one they fell by the wayside. In one sequence two men tried to rush him for both sides but were met with a spinning elbow and a palm strike to the neck. A man then tried to tackle Itachi when he thought he wasn't looking but got put into a genjutsu when Itachi turned and saw him, making him fall flat on the floor like a sac of rocks. More men came but it didn't even matter in the end.

One of the guards tried shooting Itachi with his automatic assault rifle, but was stopped when a kunai was thrown and lodged into his hand thus making him drop the weapon. Itachi then picked the gun up and swung down on him as hard as he could so that the clubbing blow could be heard by everyone in the area. He then picked up his unconscious body and threw towards a cluster of about seven men. When they were down, Itachi bore down on all of them and put them to sleep with his genjutsu.

In a matter of minutes 30 men got reduced to 15 and his goal of getting Batman inside safe was achieved. _'Now all that is left is to handle them and get Carson back._ ' He thought.

Multiple men started shooting at Itachi which caused him to summon a kunai and deflect the bullets. He then dashed forward to bulrush the thugs. The first man tried to throw a kick at Itachi but it was caught. Itachi then drove his elbow down hard on the man's leg and broke it. The thug cried out in pain before being incapacitated by an uppercut. Itachi then went to the next one and led with a side kick to the sternum that caused the goon to keel over. Itachi flipped over him and delivered a lunging punch to the guy standing behind him that landed cleanly and knocked him out cold. He then turned back around a delivered a chopping kick down on the back of neck of the thug that was keeled over.

Two more men tried to rush Itachi but made the mistake of looking him in the eye and being put in a genjutsu instantly. Fifteen men suddenly just became ten in less than two minutes.

"Enough is enough, you're done Crow!" A large man yelled while stepping forward. He was easily seven feet tall and weighed over 200 pounds. He towered over Itachi but there still was no fear in the eyes of the Crow.

The hulking man launched a slow yet powerful punch at Itachi that was dodged easily. Itachi then countered with two left jabs to the face and a strong right leg kick that was powerful enough to unbalance him. He then used his kunai and drove it down into the leg of the giant right in the upper thigh. The thug shouted in pain while dropping to a knee. He flailing around violently but Itachi countered by yanking his kunai out and leaping high into air to dodge the attack while causing more damage.

While in the air he saw the rest that had stayed back from the brawl were prepping a bomb, the same type of bomb that he got caught by earlier in the day at the park. _'Not this time, I'm ready for it now._ ' He thought.

They launched it into the area Itachi was fighting in, but Itachi threw his kunai at it before it got too far into the air and caused it to detonate early. In one smooth motion Itachi landed and used a monkey flip on the still down giant to roll him until the giant was covering him like a human shield to take all of the damage from the concussion bomb.

Once it was safe Itachi threw the now unconscious giant off of him and turned his attention to the dazed men. It was child's play for Itachi to knock them all out since they weren't even in control off all of their senses. When the last of the men fell, Itachi dashed to the warehouse to assist Batman and save Carson from Black Mask.

* * *

Batman was currently one floor underneath the squadron on men inside of the warehouse. Thanks to the Crow he got in with any hiccups and now had the jump on these thugs. He could see that they were all in a circle thanks to the detective mode in his suit and planned his attack accordingly. He aimed his grapple gun upwards and set it to mach 4 instead of it's usually mach 2 setting. He then blasted through the ceiling, grabbed one of the stunned men, and drove him head first into the ceiling above them. Batman landed and launched three batarangs at the thugs which hit their marks and took them out. The rest of the six men then started shooting at Batman but he was too quick for them and managed to evade all of the shots.

He reset his grapple gun to normal and shot it at one of the men. He then pulled the caught man towards him and delivered a devastating clothesline that sounded like it caved his chest in. The rest of the five all tried to jump in but Bruce's knowledge of martial arts subdued them quickly. Even though it was 5-on-1, Bruce was able to stand his ground and control the fight. He caught a random punch and with his vice grip, used it to swing the man at one of his cohorts making it 3-on-1 instead of five. The three men all pulled out knives and tried to stab Bruce who countered with his gauntlets to jam the blades out of their hands.

Batman went on the offensive when front kicked one of them in the head, tossed the other through the wall next to them, and connected with a critical overhand punch that sent the last thug head first into the ground. He was about to forge ahead when he heard guns being cocked behind him. The two goons that were thrown out of the 5-on-1 fight early were behind Batman, both armed with shotguns and cocky smiles.

"We got you now Bats. Any last words before you lose your head?" the thug asked.

"Look out behind you…" Batman answered.

"Do we look stupid to you?! We will blast your head-" He never got to finish because he suddenly was pulled into the dark behind him. He cried out in fear and pain but it stopped as soon as it began.

His partner turned to see what happened but immediately recognized that he made a huge mistake; you don't turn your back on Batman. He was then met with the angriest looking scowl that he had ever seen. He was then kneed in the body and dealt a hard two handed hammer fist to the back of his head. Batman then finished him by raining down three more hammer fists to his head. He stopped when the thug's now incapacitated partner was thrown at his feet with the Crow following suite.

"You're against killing, but severe brain trauma is perfectly fine with you." Itachi stated dryly.

Batman chose not to respond to his comment. Itachi used his sharingan to scan the warehouse they were in.

"Looks like Black Mask and the others are quite a few levels above us." Itachi inquired.

"This place is almost as big as a factory so we have to move fast." Batman responded. They both dashed away in hopes of finding them before Black Mask really crosses the line by killing someone.

* * *

Black mask was searching through the complex hoping to find his prey. He knew they couldn't have gone too far, but he still wanted to get this done early so he could escape Batman's wrath. He enjoyed the chase if he was being honest. It makes killing them all the sweeter.

He heard footsteps and decided to follow the source of the sound. It led him to an empty office that was shrouded in darkness. He smiled knowing that he had just caught one of them because as soon as he walked in he heard shuffling inside. He slowly stalked round the room and elected to play some mind games.

"You know this brings me back to my childhood. My father was abusive towards me when I was a child, something about making me a man. He'd beat, starve, and strap me to an empty bed frame and 'poke around inside'. My father would even wear an executioner's mask when he'd torture me as if it was all just role play to him. I wanted to die, but he wouldn't let me. I spent several years in hell because of him. He made me who I am today." He said while reflecting.

Carson was the unfortunate soul that was stuck in this office with Black Mask. They got separated after escaping; the darkness was tough to navigate through. When she heard footsteps she panicked, ran into the first room she saw, and hid under a desk. Now she was lamenting the fact that she's being forced to listen to this man's back-story before dying.

"The only reason I survived was because I let myself go insane. The body can only take so much pain before the mind shatters. I created a persona that allowed me to escape the real world and create a better one, one where my father didn't exist. When I turned eighteen, I burned my house to the ground, killing both my father and my mother while they slept. I had to cleanse myself of all my past attachments as Roman Sionis. My ascension wasn't complete until after their funeral though. During the ceremony I didn't even cry once. In fact, I actually laughed through the whole ceremony, I was finally free to show Gotham the same hell I had been shown. After they were buried I dug them up with my bare hands, my father had one last gift to bestow upon me; my mask. I used his casket to carve it and now it's my face, my true face!"

Carson was horrified. _'No wonder this man is so vile, it's all that he knows. Hatred only breads more hatred, and this demon is the human embodiment of hate. It's like he's reveling in the pain of his childhood; he really is insane,'_ she thought.

"You know there were times when my father would pretend to let me go free and run away, just so he could hunt for me like how I am hunting you. It was another one of his games. Each time he did it, he would sing while on the prowl. It was the same song every time because he knew that song terrified me because of the threat of its lyrics. Every time I was caught, I was beaten to within an inch of my life, and ultimately tortured till I passed out. The song went like this;

 _O be careful little eyes what you see  
O be careful little eyes what you see  
There's a Father up above  
And He's looking down in love  
So, be careful little eyes what you see_

 _O be careful little hands what you do  
O be careful little hands what you do  
There's a Father up above  
And He's looking down in love  
So, be careful little hands what you do_

 _O be careful little mouth what you say  
O be careful little mouth what you say  
There's a Father up above  
And He's looking down in love  
So, be careful little mouth what you say"_

Carson was now beyond scared, she was horrified. She clearly got the frightening subliminal message behind the song lyrics; be careful what you see, say, and do because you're always being watched. Her breathing was becoming rushed, it was like she was silently hyperventilating because of how creepily he sang the lyrics to a children's Sunday school song, and because he was hovering right above the desk she was under. She heard a gun click and an evil cackle, "Found you."

Just as he was about to shoot though, a scuffle was heard across the room and Roman shot three times in that direction. He paused for a few moments to see if he hit anything before rats scurried out of the corner he shot at. He shrugged, "I must be losing my touch at this, oh well."

He looked under the desk and saw nothing was there. Disappointed, he left out while singing that song out loud again. When his voice faded away Carson emerged from her new hiding spot behind a nearby couch and tried to calm herself down, but it was to no avail. She looked at the corner that he shot at but decided not to investigate what the noise was. She told herself it was because it was just rats and that her family was safe, but in the back of her mind she was worried that she was wrong.

She went out of the room and saw a trail of blood leading up the stairs. Even in the dark, the crimson liquid stood out to her. _'He must be following it. NO! It's gonna lead him straight to James,'_ she thought in a panic as she dashed to save her brother.

* * *

James finally made it to the roof. He had gotten separated from his mother and sister after the blackout, he had no idea if they were safe. While wandering in the dark he suddenly heard gunshots fired below him. He didn't have time to think so he dashed for the roof, all with the hope of luring Black Mask into one final confrontation.

He waited and prayed that his family was alright, and after a few minutes went by Black Mask showed up to the roof with him. "The chase is over little mouse, I have you now." he said.

"You've been a thorn in my family's side for years now, it ends here!" James replied as he charged forward.

Roman grinned and decided to indulge in this fist fight. James still didn't have use of his hands thanks to his torture, but that wouldn't stop him from fighting till the better end. He launched himself full force at Black Mask and tackled him to the ground. He then unleashed a flurry of ground strikes hoping to end the fight early. Roman used his considerable size advantage to bully James to his back and start wailing on him with heavy punches. Since he had all of his rings on, it was like Roman had brass knuckle which doubled the damage.

The fight didn't last long and before he knew it, James was an even more bloody mess. Roman picked him up by his lapels and delivered a hard head-butt to James who landed face down on the ground. Roman started kicking him in the ribs again repeatedly to add insult to injury. It wasn't until James started coughing up large amounts of blood that Roman ceased his onslaught.

"I know it hurts kid, but these are the consequences that you have to suffer through," Roman then pulled out his pistol. "If it's any consolation to you, I'm sorry…sorry I didn't do this from the start!"

Roman was about to kill James when Carson came running up to the scene. "Stop! Leave my brother alone!"

"And why should it do that? Just because you asked nicely for it?"

"No…you'll stop because I'll willingly go with you and your aspirations. I won't fight back. Just please, don't kill my brother. He's all I have left…" she said dejectedly.

Roman looked at her and could tell she was serious about her offer. He had déjà vu about it because it was an exactly repeat of how his meeting with Agatha went before she joined him. "You're just like you're mother…she begged me too."

"Begged you to do what exactly?" she said with a look of apprehension and confusion.

"She begged me not to kill you, just like how you just begged me not to kill him. You even made the same offer she did all those years ago; to be mine."

Carson felt her face go pale. Her mother didn't abandon her family, she was taken from them.

' _He must have threatened to kill us unless she left with him…all these years I thought she was living the high life when she was really protecting us. I'm such a fool._ ' she realized.

"Who knows, you might be more of a good time than your mother ever was. Yeah, I like the sound of that. But," Roman then shot James in his leg, "I was gonna do that anyways, before you opened your mouth about it. So my answer is no deal."

He then turned to put James out of his misery but to his dismay, a batarangs knocked his gun from his hand. He saw that Batman had joined them on the roof and was looking scarier than usual.

"Your tyranny ends now."

* * *

Itachi was completing his sweep of the building before joining everyone on the roof. He told Batman to go on ahead of him because he wanted to search for whoever the fourth hostage was. He made it to an office room and searched to place with his sharingan. He saw that a person was slumped over in a corner of the room. He took a step towards the person and saw that they were injured badly, probably from the gunshot that was heard earlier.

As he made it to them, he saw that it was a woman. She was looking pale, but surprisingly she was alive in spite of the blood loss. He tried to talk to her and put her at ease,

"It's going to be alright, paramedics are on the way. Batman and I will make Black Mask pay for his crimes."

She looked at him but gave no response. Itachi figured that with that gunshot wound to her side it would be tough to form a proper response. He used his hand to apply pressure to help stop the bleeding, but the damage had already been done. She motioned for him to stop wasting his time. She was going to die and they both knew it.

He kept quiet; nothing he could say would make her feel better. He was about to leave to finish Black Mask when she reached out to grab his hand.

"Wait…please take me to…my children. I…have to protect…them." She said between shallow breathes.

Itachi felt sorry for her. As much as he wanted to do this one favor to this woman he knew that wasting more time wasn't an option. There were lives that were depending on him to save them.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. There are people still in danger here and if I don't do something they could die. I wish the circumstances were different."

She started crying, "Please…those people in danger are…my children. Please…I don't want to die…before telling them the truth. I-I owe them that…for all of the hell I put them through."

He paused when she said her children were the ones in danger. He then realized who he was talking to, "You must be Carson's mother…you're Agatha."

* * *

Batman didn't waste any time in going after Black Mask. After he disarmed him with his batarang, the fight became quickly one-sided. Roman pulled out his switchblade to try and help improve his chances against the vigilante, even if only by a little bit. He swung at Batman furiously but nothing would land. Each time he'd swipe at him, Batman would parry or block him. Batman then would follow up with swift counterstrikes after each block. Seeing an opening, Bruce kicked the blade out of Roman's hand thus ending the fight. Roman was getting desperate, he threw a punch at Batman but it was caught easily. He tried to pull his hand free from Batman's grip, but it was like he had a vice grip on it. It wouldn't budge no matter how hard he pulled. Batman kicked at Roman's legs causing him to fall, and then started beating him savagely until he was submissive.

After it was all said and done, Batman zip-cuffed his hands behind his back and effectively ended his reign over this city. He walked over to check on Carson and James. James had suffered through a lot and it was a miracle he was even alive. Carson was looking over her brother when she felt the presence of Batman.

' _He must have beaten Black Mask…good.'_ shethought _._

"The police should be arriving any moment, you're brother is going to be alright." he assured.

She then stared at Black Mask as he was lying on the floor in pain from the beating he took.

"And what about him? What's going to happen to that bastard?"

"He will stand trial for everything that he has done, him and his men. I'll see to it that he never threatens Gotham again."

She exhaled when she heard that the monster responsible for the destruction of her family and others would finally face justice gave her a sense of peace. She kept applying pressure on James's gunshot wound to stop the bleeding. He was in a lot of pain and was barely conscious. Batman kneeled down and provided assistance to her.

"The bullets seems to have gone clean through his leg. It looks like he was shot in his shoulder as well, but I don't see an exit wound there…start applying pressure to his shoulder while I stay by his leg. He will need surgery to remove the bullet."

He then observed the rest of James's injuries. _'Roman put this boy through hell tonight. Had I not shown up, he would most certainly be dead by now.'_

Carson then remembered that her mother was with them when she escaped, "Batman, did you happen to see my mother on your way up here? Is she safe? Is she alright?"

Batman didn't answer her. He went straight for Black Mask and left finding the fourth hostage to the Crow. He was about to tell her when a voice was heard behind them.

"She's right here." They all turned to see the Crow carrying Carson's mom in his arms. She didn't look well at all. She looked extremely pale in fact. Itachi laid her down beside her family and they saw why she looked so bad; she was shot and losing a lot of blood. Batman gave him a look trying to confirm her status when Itachi shook his head and he knew exactly what that meant; she was dying.

Carson saw the blood, but was in denial about it, "I don't understand. When did you get shot? The only time I heard his gun go off was when I was hiding in that office," she gasped. "When he shot at that dark corner…that was you?"

Agatha nodded at her daughter. ' _That means she must have made that sound on purpose…to save me. And how do I repay her, by leaving her to bleed alone in the dark. I'm such a fool.'_

Carson started to cry hysterically. The guilt she felt was too much. James saw the condition his mother was in and started crying too. Agatha held her hand up to cup her daughter's face. She always hated seeing Carson cry. Her breathing was getting worse.

"It's alright. If being like this…means you get to live then…sign me up. Stop…stop crying for trash like me. I…don't deserve it."

Carson reached up and took hold of her mother's hand. It felt so cold to her. James looked on feeling like he had failed his family. The look of shame was clear on his face. Agatha saw this and spoke to him.

"James…none of this is your fault. I-I did this. I'm sorry…sorry for how I treated you. When you first arrived…I was scared…because it was another person my husband would love…more than me. Eventually, that fear…turned to jealously…and then to hate. I was wrong. Please…forgive me. I love you…my son."

James nodded his head. He fought to form words. It warmed his heart to hear his mother call him her son. In the end, he kept his reply short, "I love you too mom."

Agatha smiled and started crying. She then turned back to Carson to tell the truth. "I...never wanted to leave. Roman…he threatened you all. Said that…that if I didn't leave with him…he'd kill you. I couldn't live with that…so I left. I'm…sorry. I…filled you with so much hate. When you saw me...back then…and I ignored you…my heart broke. I never wanted you to see me like that. When I heard…that Gerry had passed…I wanted to die. I loved him...with all of my heart. I should have been with him. I…failed him."

Carson shook her head, "No. He loved you even after it happened. We all did."

"You…don't have to lie. I heard…what you said earlier. You were right. I am a horrible mother. But know this…if I only did one this right in my life…it was making you Carson. You…are my heart. You…don't ever have to forgive what I did because I will…always love you."

Carson smiled through her tears. It took a while but, even for a little bit, she got her mother back. "I love you too mom. You're still my hero."

That made Agatha smile in peace, "Take care of each other. You and James…only have each other now. I wish…I wish I could stay but it looks like I get to see Gerry soon. I…have a lot to explain for…I hope he forgives me."

"He will mom. We all forgive you."

"I-I am glad to hear that. Carson, please do me one favor. If…you find someone you care enough about to love…don't let that person go. Even if…the world itself is pulling you apart…stay strong and true to yourself. Love is beautiful…and I can't wait for the day when you experience it yourself. Carson…James…I…I…" she never got to finish as she died midsentence.

Carson started crying harder but kept her smile. James closed her eyes hears so that she may finally be at peace. Itachi and Batman stood far off watching the scene. Both of them felt for this family. They were about to turn and leave when an evil laugh was heard. It came from Roman Sionis.

"Well would you look at that. I didn't mean to kill the whore but stuff happens. I guess really locks up that Carson will take her place when I get out of jail. I run this city! Blackgate can't hold me for more than a month."

Carson and James looked on horrified. Batman ignored the defeated crime lord's empty threats but Itachi had other plans. He leered down on him as it started to thunderstorm around him. Roman needed to be taught a lesson.

"You won't touch them. If you do I'll give you a fate worse than death." He threatened.

"So what if I was wrong about you being that brat James, it doesn't change a thing so stop it punk. You can't do anything to me. Batman scares me more than you ever could and he can't even grow a big enough pair to kill me. Amateur hour is over kid so shut the hell-," he was stopped when Itachi lifted him u by his throat till they were eye to eye. After a few moments Itachi was confused on why Black Mask wasn't under his control. Roman laughed at him.

"I bet you're wondering why you little eye trick isn't working. News flash, this mask isn't a normal one. I made it out of my father's casket and had it sewn on to my face! It is my face! It covers everything; my past, my sanity, even my eyeballs. I know you can't do that trick without eye contact…I do my research." He said with an arrogant look on his face.

Itachi tilted his head and then proceeded to crush Roman's throat. Roman's mouth was filled with blood now. Itachi then inched closer and whispered to him, "You talk too much for such a weak man. I don't need eye contact to use that 'trick'. I only need to point at you."

Roman's eyes bulged out in fear as Itachi used his free hand to point at Roman and put him under his genjutsu. Roman soon found himself back into his old childhood room. It was the very room he would get tortured in for the majority of his youth. He then heard his father walking up the stairs as the room got dark. What sent him under the edge was his father was singing signaling that this would be his 'fun session'.

He started to panic but crows came out of nowhere and morphed into restraints that held him tightly to his bed. Another crow flew into his mouth and moments later, Roman felt his lips start to seal shut. He couldn't scream or cry out. His father opened the door and had just finished singing his favorite verse; 'be careful little eyes what you see.' Roman's eyes saw the most horrific sight ever when his dad came into view. His dad wore a mask, but not his normal mask whenever he was abusive. This time it was Roman's Black Mask. He leered down at his son before grinning as he started fiddling with his torture devices, "Time for the fun to start Roman. Today is the day I make you a man. It's time to face your fears ROMAN!"

Roman then started screaming uncontrollably out of terror outside of the genjutsu before Itachi knocked him out. Batman saw the broken mess Roman was in and sighed. Itachi felt no sympathy for the thug and walked away.

"He won't be touching them. When he wakes up he'll too afraid of his father to try anything ever again." Crow then disappeared into the night. Just as he left, the police had arrived to the scene. Batman saw this and decided he too would leave but not before offering his condolences to Carson and James.

"I'm sorry about your mother." He then shot away into the night before either of them could respond.

It wouldn't be hours until Carson would finally make it back home. James was still in Gotham General getting treated for his injuries. She would still be there but he told her to go home and get some rest. The police commissioner himself offered her a ride, which she accepted. She got in her apartment and saw all of the damage Black Mask had done. She saw how blood was everywhere. She sat on her couch with a blank look on her face.

She was glad to see that thug get his comeuppance and see him in cuffs while screaming 'Dad please stop hurting me' over and over. She didn't feel an inch of sympathy for him even after finding out he was abused as a child. She didn't know how to feel about her mother dying. She was happy that her mom would finally be at peace, but sad that now she really did only have James.

She started crying again from the weight of it all crashing down on her. After a while she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Itachi standing there beside her. She leapt into his arms and balled her eyes out. He stood there holding her as she coped with everything that had just happened.

"Itachi…I…my mom died and my brother is in the hospital right now. I was so scared tonight. I thought I was going o die. Itachi I didn't know if you were safe. The last I saw you was when I was snatched up and you were bleeding on the ground. Black Mask…I mean Roman Sionis is in bars but, I still feel like I'm the one captive. Itachi…I'm so…I'm so-" Itachi stopped her before she started hyperventilating.

"I'm sorry about your mother and brother. My mom is dead too so I know how you feel," she was shocked to hear this. "I won't tell you it gets better with time because it won't; it will always hurt. But I can say that you will get stronger from this. I know you can bounce back…I believe in you Carson."

She stopped crying but still held onto him. She remembered her mother's last words before dying about when she found love. _'What if I already have?'_ she asked silently in her head.

She would eventually lie on the couch and fell asleep. With Itachi with her she didn't feel as hurt as she did before. Despite everything that transpired that night, she slept peacefully. Itachi sighed as he held her because deep down he knew what he needed to do to keep her safe. He needed to leave before something like this could ever happen to her again.

* * *

It was like Gotham had new life after the fall of Roman Sionis. In the following weeks Gotham has seen a steep decrease in its crime rates. After their leader fell, the rest of the False Face Society soon joined him. Blackgate was filled thanks to the combined efforts of Batman, Crow, and James Gordon.

Itachi mostly worked on his own, but there were nights where he and Batman worked the same beat, at which they soon realized they had great chemistry. Itachi found it ironic because of how different their fundamental philosophies were. Batman believed there was a line that people of their ilk should never cross; to never kill. Itachi believed that sacrifice for the greater good has no limits. If saving a billion lives meant he had to kill a million of them, he'd do it for the sake of his loved ones if there were no other options. It really made Itachi reevaluate the extreme methods of his past. The biggest difference between Itachi now and the Itachi from years ago is that he's more willing to put his faith in others, he'd no longer take the choice away from them.

Itachi was standing over a building overlooking Gotham when he felt Batman walk up behind him, "What do you want?"

"The real question is what do you want? What's your goal in doing this?" Batman asked.

"To keep the peace and protect those close to me, that's all I care about."

"If that's really the case then you'll join the Justice League. Our league was formed with the sole protecting everything that is close to us and the entire world. You can't do it alone, I hope you know that."

"I do. Someone precious to me was only saved because I started putting my faith in others. To think otherwise would be arrogant and irresponsible of me."

"So is that a yes?" Itachi stayed silent. He really didn't know how to answer. He knew the right thing to do was to say yes, but the last few teams he's been on all died tragically. He also had to think of Carson, who was still grieving. He knew he couldn't stay with her forever, but he just didn't want to leave while she was in a vulnerable spot.

Batman felt the hesitation and gave an olive branch. "You don't have to know the answer now, just think about it. After enough time has passed, I'll seek you out and you had better have an answer then."

Batman then started to walk away but not before imparting one word of advice, "I don't know who you're protecting by doing this, but be prepared for what happens should you fail. Loss can change a man for the better, or for the worse. Also, keep your distance. If your enemies even suspect that someone may be close to you, they will become targets."

Batman then disappeared from the roof leaving Itachi to himself again. Itachi had a lot to think about but one thing wasn't for debate; he had to leave Carson immediately.

* * *

The next day was the funeral of Agatha Collins. It happened earlier in the day. A lot of Carson's friends came to support her in her time of need. Artemis, Carla, even the too smart for school Tim Drake attended. James was there as well, still bandaged up from his night in hell with Black Mask. There was only one person though that she wanted to see but was never there; Itachi.

He never showed up. She waited for him to walk through that door, but as more and more faces came in she quickly lost hope. It broke her heart that someone she really cares about would abandon her like this. Throughout the whole service she had a numb look on her face and everybody knew it. They would try to comfort her but she shrugged them off, not even her brother got through to her.

Even when seeing her mom being lowered into the ground, Carson didn't show any outward expression of her emotions. When it was all over, James thanked everyone for coming on their behalf. The Army paid for the funeral and for his squadron to come and support him. It was a kind gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the siblings. They soon left the cemetery and headed back home in a limousine. When they arrived home, the scene was solemn.

James left out to meet with a superior of his and Carson sat on the couch still numb. She looked at the blank television screen for what felt like hours before she snapped. She started to wail out of grief of her mother being dead. It wasn't long before her door opened and someone came in to check on her. Much to Carson's disappointment the person wasn't Itachi; it was Artemis. They sat together and shared a cry.

After garnering the courage, Carson asked what was really on her mind, "Why didn't he show up? I needed his support but he never showed."

Artemis really felt sympathy for her friend, "I don't know Carson. When I woke up he was already gone and when I got back my mom said he never returned. He must have his reasons though."

"What reason could he have for not coming to my mother's funeral? I understand he's not very transparent with his feelings, but what about me? I just needed his support, but he never showed up." she said bitterly.

"That's something you have to ask Itachi yourself. I know you like him…like him like him. Don't act so surprised, you're horrible at hiding it. Just give him a chance okay. He may be going through as much as you are."

"How? My mother died not his." Carson retorted. "That's true Car, but remember that his friend is in pain. Some people handle that by distancing themselves…don't let him do that. Go find him."

"But I don't know where he's at. He can be so stoic and secretive with what he does…" she said depressingly. Artemis shook her friend jokingly. "So you mean to tell me that after all of this time that you haven't picked up on his habits? I know you have so just think about it…where does he like to go when he wants to be alone?"

"He likes going to the Wayne Botanical Gardens, over by the ponds. I'll look there for him."

"Do you want me to go with you, for support?" Artemis asked.

"No, I have to do this alone." Carson then got up and hugged her friend one last time. "Thank you for coming."

"No problem, I'm always right across the hall should you need me." Carson smiled and left out to find Itachi and get everything she really felt off of her chest.

Artemis looked on in sadness. She had a feeling this wouldn't end the way Carson wanted it to. She's only known him for a short while but from what she has gathered so far this much she knows for sure; Itachi can be blunt and ruthless when he needs to be.

* * *

It was the dead of night and Itachi was staring at the pond. He finished making his nightly rounds in the city early and decided to reflect on things. He mostly thought about Carson and what to do about her. He had no desire to leave her since she's become so important to him. She's not like most people that he's ever met, on both worlds. Everyone he's met treated either him like he was special or like he was a time bomb. Everyone has feared or hated him at one point or another. It's been like that since he was a child.

But not Carson, she's only viewed him with warmth ever since they met. She reminds him of Izumi, his lover from the past. She also viewed him with warmth and always found a way to make him smile. He missed her a lot and wished things would have ended differently. He never wanted to kill her, but Danzo made his mission clear; everyone dies, even the innocent.

Only his brother was spared, if you could even call it that. Living a life full of hurt, hate, and revenge doesn't seem like a pleasant life, but Itachi made that choice without hesitation. He was forced to choose between life and death for his clan; he was judge and executioner, but the jury fell to Danzo. He took choice out of the equation, only the results mattered to him.

Now it's like he's found himself in the same situation with Carson. As much as he wants to give her the choice, only the results matter in the end. Itachi was the judge and executioner, but the Crow was the jury. He'd rather take her choice away and see her live a fulfilling, happy life than give her a choice and see her die because of him. He's had enough dead people on his conscious already.

"Itachi?" He heard her voice come up from behind him. ' _It seems fate wants this done now.'_ He thought.

Carson had finally found him, but something seemed off to her. His demeanor wasn't like how it usually was and for some reason she all of a sudden felt cold. She started walking up to him when he turned to face her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the look he was giving her; it was ruthless and devoid of any emotion.

"Is everything okay? We can talk if that's what you want?" he didn't give a response. It was like he was staring into her soul and judging her. She continued on hoping to find the cause of all of this.

"I'm worried about you. You've been acting so distant to me lately. You rarely visit and when you do it's like you're not even all the way there. And what's with you missing my mother's funeral? I needed you and you let me down. Now I come her searching for you and all I get is this death stare…what's going on Itachi?!"

They stood there staring at one another. Carson visibly showed how hurt and concerned she was. Despite seeing this, Itachi still had a cold, ruthless look on his face. After what seemed like an eternity Itachi finally answered her.

"Leave and never show your face to me again." He said coldly.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" Carson said not believing what she had just heard.

"You and I are done. Go home."

"You must be joking. Look, I don't know what's going through your head, but if you think I'll just leave after a comment like that you got another thing coming."

"Do I look like I'm joking? Leave, don't make me say it again." He then activated his sharingan.

She saw his eyes and knew that he was serious. She knew he had special abilities but, not to this extent. His eyes made him look like so scary to her. He took a step forward and she responded by taking one backward. She was genuinely terrified of him now.

"Itachi stop! You're really scaring me. Why are you doing this? I thought…I thought we had a special connection; a bond. Why are you trying to push me away and break that bond?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Because of how weak you are Carson. You're so weak I don't even feel sorry for you anymore. You are such a foolish woman. This bond that you feel means nothing to me. You mean nothing to me."

She never felt so hurt by words in her life. She felt her heart break in two. She leered at him with hurt and rage in her eyes and did the only thing she could think of; she ran. She ran home as fast as she could because staying and facing this monster would mean she'd have to accept that the Itachi she cared about was gone, like he was never there at all. And she would never accept that because her feelings for him are real, they have always been real to her.

She ran back home with tears in her eyes as Itachi looked on stoically. He knew this had to be done, but it still didn't make seeing the hurt and anger on Carson's face any easier. He teleported away to follow Carson at a distance to make sure that she made it home safely. When she did get home, she cried herself to sleep as Itachi watched on from the rooftop across from her building.

Artemis joined him on the rooftop soon after she fell asleep. "What did you say to her? I've never seen her so devastated before."

"I told her what she needed to hear. I want her safe…staying away from me will keep her safe."

"Yeah, but at what cost. You really hurt her." She said sadly.

Itachi remained unreadable. The last time he had to do something like this was when Sasuke walked in on him after he had just killed their parents. Both times he had to lie and both times the victims left hating him in the end.

"What's your next move?" she asked.

He didn't answer. He looked like he was deep in thought.

"I hope that you're right about this and that it's worth it to you. You're my friend Itachi and I trust you. You've proven that you truly are a good guy and a hero. I just wish I could have been there to help you and Batman catch Black mask. If I had, maybe Carson's mom would still be here."

He turned and nodded at her. He really appreciated that she still supported him. She smiled and gave him one of her arrows. He eyed it weirdly wondering what the purpose of it was.

"It's like a homing beacon. I don't want what happened with Black Mask to ever happen again. So if you or I ever need help we'll press the button on the arrow and go to the location. At least this way we have a means of communication should trouble arise."

He put the arrow in the seal of his wrist and turned back to look over Carson's sleeping form. Artemis shook her head the arrow disappearing in a puff of smoke and walked back home. She started mumbling about him possibly being a magician.

He continued looking on hoping that he made the right choice in pushing Carson away.

* * *

Elsewhere Batman was on his batcomputer. He was starting a file on the Crow. His butler Alfred walked up to him with a tray of tea and a look that read 'not again'.

"Sir, don't you think that this can wait until tomorrow?" Alfred asked.

"No, it can't. I need as much information on him as possible for my evaluation." Bruce replied.

"Evaluation? Please don't tell me you still plan on fighting this man."

"No…I don't. I plan on recruiting him to the League. I already offered the invitation."

"And what was his answer?"

"He didn't have one. I didn't expect him to. I anticipated that he'd be reluctant to join."

"How did you anticipate that? And why ask if you knew the answer would be no in the end?"

"I anticipated it because he's a lot like me. When out in the field with him I made mental notes on him. The way he thinks, fights, and operates fall in line with my styles. He has advanced combat skills and more than ample enough of battle experience. He'd be a great addition to the League. I asked him, despite knowing that he'd likely answer not, to put he thought in his head. He's going to think about it and that's good enough for now."

"What makes you so sure that he'll say yes eventually?" Alfred inquired. His ward's interest in this vigilante made him curious. "Because he has people that he wants to protect. Sooner or later just like me, he'll realize that the best way to do that is with the League. I don't have any doubts about it."

Alfred smiled at his wards confidence, "If you are this confident then so am I Master Bruce."

He left Bruce to continue working on his files. _'If Bruce has confidence in this Crow fellow than so do I.'_ he thought while walking back to the mansion.

Elsewhere James was having another secret meeting with his superiors over at ARGUS. He was there to provide a report on his findings of the break in the multiverse.

"Major Collins, it's good to see that you are alright. That fiasco with Sionis had us worried for a moment."

"Thank you for the concern Director Waller. I have information on that breach that occurred a while back." James replied.

"Let me have it." Amanda replied.

"It is confirmed that something did come out of the breach, or a person I should say. I am fairly certain that the masked vigilante known as the Crow emerged from it."

"How are you so sure?"

"The timing…everything matches up perfectly. No word or record of a Crow vigilante was found before the breach, but afterwards his name was soon mentioned everywhere in the underground circuit."

"What's your assessment of him? Is he a threat?" she asked. James closed his eyes and remembered reading all of the hospital reports of the thugs he assaulted and injured. He remembered what he did to Black Mask, who was still in the medical wing of Arkham getting treatment for his mental breakdown. He didn't like any of his work because of the nature of his power and because of what would happen if he turned on innocent civilians.

"Ma'am, it is my assessment that the vigilante known as the Crow is an omega level threat and should be dealt with immediately to reduce the possible threat he poses to civilians." he said with conviction.

Amanda Waller nodded her head. "It looks like we're going to have to expedite the development of Project Super-clone. It's time we fight fire with fire."

James saluted her, "Ma'am, Yes Ma'am!"

* * *

That's it for this chapter and saga of the story. Next chapter will be Itachi's first introduction to the team. Thank you to all of the readers who continue support this story. I truly appreciate your feedback and reviews, even the mean one that told people not to read this story, LOL. I wanna give a special shout-out to 502nckster. You were really encouraging and I thoroughly enjoyed messaging you about ideas for the story. I hope you like the chapter! Once again I wanna thank all you! Until next time guys and gals!


	10. The Team

James is a man of principle. He has a set of values that he swore he'd never waver from. He believes that no one should ever have to go above their family or the law. Part of that stemmed from how hard his childhood was. When his dad passed away and left him and Carson alone, he knew he had to toughen up to protect his sister.

The kids would pick on them because of their situation and force James into fights all of the time. He wasn't a bad kid, but he refused to sit by and let someone threaten his family in front of him. James believes that family is always worth fighting for. It didn't matter if it was punks who were trying to bully his sister or a thug that was trying to kill his mom and sister. That's why he was so devastated when his mom was murdered; he felt he didn't fight hard enough for her. In response, James went head first into his job. For him work had been an escape from his problems.

It has been a month since his mother died, yet he still hasn't gotten over it. Seeing her lowered into the ground still feels like a dream to him. It's not until he comes home to see Carson when he realizes that it was not a dream, it's his hellish reality. She was still grieving their mother's loss. He tried to talk to her about it several times, but every time she would blow it off and say she just needs time. He was okay with that answer after the first week, but not after a month. Something was going on with her and he made it a point of order to confront her about it.

He wasn't clean either though. His problem was that he was busy with his duties from ARGUS. He still had no luck on finding more intel on the Crow. The vigilante wasn't one to linger or leave traces that he was at a particular location. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd seen him in person he would still have doubts that the creep even exists at all. Another hurdle was the clone. The clone was having setbacks because the body was attacking the kryptonian blood cells from within. The clone needs a new DNA template or else it's just going to keep deteriorating over and over again.

Sometimes, James feels that it was a lot less stressful just being a grunt again. He still didn't know how he rose through the ranks. He wasn't exceptionally talented or mentally gifted. In fact, he was dead last in all of the important requirements in getting the promotion. According to Director Waller, the two biggest reasons why he was chosen were because of his loyalty and his drive to succeed. He had a high sense of loyalty to his duty of making the world a safer place, and that was a valuable asset to have according to her along with his drive to always see that a mission succeeds no matter what.

' _For far too long we've put our faith in theses so called heroes and lost sight of our own sense of strength. Their mere presence insights conflict…conflict that they don't have to deal with, we do. I won't stop until every single one of them is put out of commission before they cause another disaster to happen. I have to…for Carson.'_ He thought.

He made it back to the apartment to see that Carson was on the couch watching the news. There was a reporter named Vicki Vale talking about how crime in Gotham had dropped.

"And as of September the crime rate in Gotham has reached an historic all-time low. Not since the first sighting of the Batman has it been this safe in our beloved city. I don't think this would be possible without the efforts of our newest guardian the Crow. We all owe him a great-," the channel was cut off suddenly.

Carson turned to see her brother sitting beside her, "Listen, we need to talk Carson."

"About?" She didn't know where he was going with this, but she hoped it was another 'how are you feeling' conversation.

"How are you feeling?" Carson groaned, "No sis, I'm tired of this. It's been a month since mom died and you're still acting like this!"

"Like what?" she responded now annoyed.

"Cold, you're so cold about everything. I know you're hurting about mom being gone, but so am I. I lost a mother that night too. We need to come together, but it feels like you're trying to push me away. Ever since the funeral, it's like there has been a wall between us and I hate it. I love you Carson and I just want my sister back."

Carson didn't know how to respond. She knew she had been withdrawn, but she didn't know that it was affecting James as much as it was. She was hurt, but in all of her pain she didn't stop to think about whether or not her brother was hurting too. She immediately felt horrible.

James continued on, "I'm not asking you to act like everything is normal because I know it's not. Mom…she's gone and we have to deal with that. So…I guess I'm asking that we finally deal with it instead of doing what we've been doing. Me…diving head first into work and you just distancing yourself from everybody and everything. It's time we started being a family again. The love we have for each other is all we have left Carson."

The siblings hugged and shared a cry together. Carson was touched that her brother felt so strongly about this. For the last month, they had been like strangers to each other. Just because Itachi left her didn't mean that she needed to distance herself from her loved ones too. She would never abandon James like that. After they got done embracing she smiled at her brother before ruffling his hair.

"Come on James let's get some ice cream before Luigi's closes for the night. Oh, and you're paying too." She said deviously.

James smiled at her shift of demeanor, "Why do I have to pay for it? I paid last time remember?"

"Oh stop being a baby. If it helps, I'll go easy on the scoops this time." James shook his head before getting his jacket. The only good thing about vigilantes like the Crow is that they keep the nights safe because everyone is too afraid to commit a crime. But just in case, he always keeps his gun ready because there's no such thing as too careful in Gotham.

Carson was in her room looking for a jacket when she stumbled upon a picture that made her stop and smile. It was of her and Itachi that she got him to take after days of nagging. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't miss him. She'd give anything just to know that he was okay because she hasn't seen him since that night. It sucks because despite how easily Itachi detached himself from her, she just can't bring herself to do the same to him. She didn't care what he said; there will always be a bond between them. Speaking with her brother just showed her how powerful and unbreakable bonds can be.

She put the picture back, grabbed her jacket, and left with her brother to get some ice cream and finally move past all of the hurt.

* * *

Artemis was on her way to the Cave via zeta-beam when she was caught by an unexpected guess, Robin. He had a look of surprise on his face as he walked out of the shadows of the alley, but the look quickly turned into one of smugness from having caught his teammate on his turf. Artemis, on the other hand, was rattled by his appearance.

"How random that you're in Gotham City…instead of Star City where you're uncle Green Arrow lives?" he said teasingly.

She had to think fast since the team still doesn't know of her true origin yet, "I'm…uh…here to see my cousin. She was in the state spelling bee, here in Gotham City." She replied on the fly.

"C-o-o-l. Did she w-i-n?" he was enjoying seeing her rattled.

She was beginning to get annoyed, "N-o."

"D-r-a-g."

Having had enough, Artemis ended the conversation and decided to head to the Cave. It was unfortunate that they zeta-beamed right into an attack. Thinking fast she dodged the initial attacks and regrouped with Robin. Both of their visions were restricted by the smoke, so all they could see where fireballs being hurled their way. Any attempt to counter-attack failed.

Robin and Artemis ran for cover since they were too exposed by their current location by the tubes. Their escape route was blocked though by a sudden wave of water crashing right in front of them and washing them away. They had to recover quickly because fireballs were still being thrown towards their direction. They ran deeper into the Cave to try to lose their attackers and so that they could establish contact with their teammates. They had bad luck on both fronts because nobody was responding to their calls and the attackers were right on their trails.

They ran into a shower room as a fire tornado chased them and tried to wash it away with the shower heads while activating cave security, but everything was locked down. All of a sudden the water in the showers started bursting from the pipes and flooding the room. Robin set off an explosive to create a whole in the wall and save their lives before they drowned.

They soon ran into the air vents to hide and formulate their next plan of action. Thanks to the Cave's blueprints that Robin downloaded while escaping they weren't completely blind. They maneuvered through the vents until they were able to reach the boiler room. It wasn't long until they were found because soon the entire room was engulfed in flames. They had little time to find the second access tunnel or else they'd be burned alive. Artemis was able to locate it just in time and they both rushed through it, but not before Robin left an explosive batarang behind to help provide cover for them.

While they had a moment to catch their breaths, Robin decided to get some information on the enemy as well as help cover their tracks by deactivated the Cave's motion and heat sensors. They went through the Cave's security footage to see just what they were fighting to begin with and what had happened to their teammates. It wasn't much, but they did manage to see the same water blasts that had attacked them earlier had also attacked their teammates.

"That's it…all four are dead." Artemis gave him a look of disbelief. He quickly modified his statement, "The cameras! I meant the cameras! I'm sure the others are okay. Just give me a second to find the fastest route to the hangar."

Artemis sat back and tried to convince herself that there were okay, but all she wound up doing was putting more stress on herself, "Yeah, they're fine. They have superpowers. They can handle anything."

* * *

They found themselves in the library as they searched for a secret passageway into the hangar which Artemis thought was so cliché. Not long after they heard the door being opened and prepped their weapons for an inevitable fight. They heard a robotic voice call out their names and Artemis automatically assumed it was Red Tornado. She walked out into the open, but saw that it was a different robot that had called out to them. It reached out to grab her but Robin pushed her out of its grasp.

"Yes on the red, no on the tornado!" They made a run for it but were caught off by yet another red robot. The killer robot started shooting fire at them so they climbed on top of the bookshelves to avoid being burned. Robin's quick thinking allowed them to find the hidden entrance and escape again before things could really get worse.

As they were running away Artemis questioned how they were going to be able to stop them since Red Tornado was a powerhouse amongst Justice Leaguers, except now they were facing two of him. They stopped when one of the robots started talking to them through the intercom.

"Attention Robin! Attention Artemis! You have exactly ten minutes to surrender or the lives or your teammates will be extinguished."

At least now they knew the fates of their teammates from the earlier ambush. They were being held as a bargaining chip to lure them into a trap. They quickly made a run for their friends, all the while being taunted by the robot's counting down on the intercom.

"We can access the hangar from here," they turned to see a wave of water coming towards them fast, "Or not."

"Will you please stop saying that?" Artemis replied. They were both caught by the wave and washed away. Robin quickly took out his re-breather to get a quick intake of air in before giving it to his comrade. While trying to regroup and think of a plan out of this, one of the robots quietly swam through the water and grabbed Artemis. Robin grabbed one of her arrows that were floating in the water and used it to free her before more damage could be done. He got a hold of her and used his grappling gun to retreat, but not without leaving multiple explosive batarangs as a deterrent from being followed.

Thanks to some stroke of good luck they found themselves in the now flooded bay of the hangar. Their luck didn't last because not even a second later the second robot started blasting them with fire blasts. Using the attack as cover, the two heroes swam until they were next to Superboy and Kid Flash to check on them.

"You guys okay?" Robin asked.

"Forget us! Help M'gann!" Conner responded form his makeshift prison. They looked up to see a cage made up of fire which led them to believe that was where the rest of their friends were being held because of their weakness to fire. Artemis called out to Aqualad to check on their status.

"Aqualad is she-" she was cut off.

"She is unconscious. I fear she…we cannot survive much longer." He replied.

The conversation was cut short by another fire blast emitted from the enemy. They tried to make their leave but were cut off by both of the psychotic robots. They just couldn't catch a break because Artemis started to notice how almost all of the arrows in her quiver were gone.

"I'm almost out of arrows."

"Distract her, now!"

They both launched their attacks. Artemis fired an arrow that had little to no effect while Robin threw a volley of batarangs that did nothing but bounce off of the robot. Neither of them noticed though that one of the batarangs landed precisely right next to Wally in his confinement next to Conner. Both of the heroes escaped by using the robot's powers to clash against and cancel each other out. They quickly dove into the water and found an escape hatch to swim out of. They were able to find another air vent and were trying to regroup when they heard one of the robots call out that they had six minutes remaining.

"What do we do?" Artemis asked in a panic.

"We save them. That's how it works." He answered with conviction.

"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those robots already took out our super-powered friends."

"You seem distraught…"

"Distraught? M'gann is dying, we have no powers, and I am down to my last combat arrow. Of course I'm distraught!"

"Well get traught or get dead!" Artemis couldn't believe what she was hearing from him. They started crawling deeper into the vent.

"How can you be so calm?"

"Practice. I've been doing this since I was nine."

"What good is that to us now? What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?"

Robin stopped and inwardly kicked himself for not seeing it earlier. They were machines, which meant that they could be shut down. He also didn't ignore what she said about the combat arrow comment Artemis made earlier.

"What did you mean by combat arrow?"

"Huh?"

"Earlier you said that you were down to your last combat arrow, but not arrow in general. What other kinds do you have?"

Artemis pulled out her short arrow from the side compartment of her quiver. Robin eyed it weirdly while trying to figure out what it exactly does.

"It's a homing beacon. It's a way to contact a friend of mine should either of us be in need of help. Now that you bring it up, I think now would be a great time to call on him for help."

"Is this friend an acquaintance of the league?" Robin asked.

"No, not even Oliver knows him. He sort have just came onto the scenes as it pertains to the superhero business."

"So let me get this straight; you want to bring a newbie here to stop these robots when the entire team had no chance against them? And the league doesn't even know about him?"

"Look I know it sounds bad, but he's not like the average hero. He's-"

"Do it. We need all the help we can get."

Artemis was shocked that 'go by the book' Robin said yes to her bringing outside help in, "But why?"

"Like you said, M'gann's life is at stake. If it's between breaking a rule or saving one of our lives, our lives will always come first so call him in."

Artemis smiled as she took the homing beacon and relayed a message to her friend. "Hopefully, he'll get it and come in time to help save our friends."

"Yes, but we have to still forge ahead as if we don't expect him to come. The thing with plans are that they rarely ever go off without a hitch. So while we wait for to cavalry, I have a plan that should render those robots useless."

"How so? Because the whole reason we are stuck in this vent Is because none of our previous plans on fighting the robots worked out too well." she asked.

"Artemis you just said it right there," She had a big look of confusion on her face, "They're machines and one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range."

"Great…except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt because I know I don't have one in my quiver." She condescendingly joked.

"I'm fresh out, but I'm betting we can make one. What do you say KF, doable?"

Kid Flash could now speak to them thanks to the stray batarang lodged next to him. "Totally doable," They then heard that there were five minutes left on the countdown, "You know…if you had more time…"

They had to make time, so they pushed on the lab that they could use to create the EMP as a last ditch effort to save the rest of the team.

* * *

Back in Gotham, Itachi was on the prowl as the Crow. He caught word on a drug deal going down and decided to investigate. Normally he'd let the police handle things as small as this, but this was a special exception. When he took down Black Mask, he did more than take out one lone man. He took out an entire crime syndicate, which had multiple unintended consequences.

One of those unintended consequences was that now the entire city of Gotham was now basically free territory. Roman Sionis held absolute control over the city for over twenty years so when his rivals caught wind of his downfall, everyone tried to get a piece of the pie. Itachi has spent the last month combating them and is the reason why crime has been so low in Gotham.

There has only really been one player who keeps trying to assert himself in Gotham despite of the Crow's presence. He's been selling an extremely powerful and dangerous narcotic drug called Vertigo. It's extremely addictive, distorts one's sense of balance, and in its purest form can cause the victim to believe that they are in constant excruciating pain. It's a hell of a drug and needs to be dealt with immediately before it becomes a big problem. Itachi hasn't been able to identify him yet, but hopefully after this drug deal he hoped that he'd finally get a lead.

Fast forward to current time and you'll see that the Crow is in the middle of interrogating two of the drug dealers. He'd knocked everyone else out except for who he surmised were the head bosses of this operation. It wasn't hard since he upgraded his appearance since defeating Black Mask because he wanted to stay ready for anything. He cut his hair again so that it was in a low ponytail and now wore a sleeker, porcelain crow mask that was all black and adjusted so that his sharingan was more visible through the mask's eye-holes. He wore an all black high collared, short-sleeved compression shirt along with all black tightly fitted sweatpants. He had a gray flak jacket, metal arm guards and black arm sleeves that ended just below his elbow, and durable black combat boots. It was basically a modernized version of his anbu black ops uniform. He felt it was ironic because he was doing the same types of missions now that he was back then minus the killing.

"I'll only ask this once since I hate repeating myself, where can I find your boss?" Crow asked.

"Look man, I don't know. We just get anonymous emails and set the deals up. I'm just a grunt-" he was cut off by an axe kick from Itachi that shattered his collarbone and sent him crashing down to the floor screaming from the excruciating pain.

Itachi put him out of his misery and knocked him out cold with a blow to the back of his neck. He then turned and started to approach the thug's partner who was shaking with fear. When Itachi reached the man he lifted him up by his lapels and held him against the wall.

"You have ten words…ten. Make them count or I promise that what happened to him will be nothing compared to what I do to you." He threatened. The scared man looked at his partner and gulped. He knew he was screwed no matter what he said.

"Do you know what he'll do to me if-" Itachi covered his mouth up. He then drugged him over to the window in the room and slammed the man through it. They were four stories high so the prospect of dangling in the air that high terrified the dealer.

Itachi stopped when he felt a weird buzzing sensation. He realized it was Artemis's homing arrow and summoned it immediately. It was beeping and had a red blinking button on it. Wanting privacy, Itachi let go of the dealer and let him fall through the air. He summoned a kunai with wire attached to it and threw at the dealer to catch him before he hit the ground. It pierced his Achilles tendon and stopped the free fall. The dealer was struggling and screaming from the pain which was causing the kunai to loosen from its spot in his leg.

"I suggest you stop struggling, unless you actually want to fall that is…" the man then stayed still and bit down on his tongue to stop screaming. Itachi pressed the button on his arrow and heard a relayed message sent by Artemis.

"Itachi, I need your help. I don't have much time to explain but my friends and I are in trouble and could use some backup. I need you rush over to 63rd and Crescent Street. There is a back alley there, walk towards it until you get to what looks like a broken phone booth. You'll be zeta-beamed to our base. Once you get there I need you to find me. I should be in the air vents. Don't engage the enemy until we meet up, they'll be the two psycho red robots. Please hurry, my friends don't have much time left." The message ended after that.

Itachi sighed, _'Looks like I have to cut this short then. If Artemis is in trouble, I have to help her.'_

Itachi had to cut his interrogation short, he pulled the dealer up by the wire and glared down at him as he was dangling upside down. "This is your last chance before I do to you what I did to Black Mask. Make your two words count."

The man furiously nodded before speaking again, "Count Vertigo!"

This quirked Itachi's interest, "Is that the leader behind this operation?"

"Yes, but all I know is his name. I've never met the guy so I don't know where to find him I swear!"

"I believe you," Itachi then knocked him out before throwing him back into the room with his unconscious partner. He would have cut the time down by using genjutsu but he was low on chakra. He's been up for five days straight following this case. He's glad he got some type of results from it.

' _Count Vertigo…you're next.'_ He weaved the necessary hand signs and devolved into multiple crows to teleport to the alleyway faster. He got there and walked down until he saw a phone booth that looked broken just as Artemis instructed. He got in and almost immediately felt a strange sensation. Then he was zeta-beamed over to the Cave over in Mount Justice.

He suddenly found himself in a flooded cave. Sensing the other presences in the room, he quickly teleported away. He did so just in time because the two red robots came to investigate why the Cave's zeta-tubes were activated right afterwards. They saw that nothing was there and went back to watching over the hostages while Itachi watched on from above. Not wasting any time, he used his sharingan to scan for Artemis. After locating her signature he dashed after her while hoping he wasn't too late.

* * *

Artemis was pretty much at her limits and close to giving up. Her and Robin's plan to set off an EMP failed, she was out of arrows, and worst of all it got Robin captured. She felt powerless; like all she could do was sit by and watch her friends die. If she surrendered she'd surely parish with the rest of them, but her only other option would be to abandon them which was a choice she would never be able to live with. She was crawling through the vents when she fell through a passageway and landed in the souvenir room. It was where Kid Flash stored all of his souvenirs from the past missions.

"I hope the League finds me before the Reds." She then looked at the souvenirs and saw her sister's Cheshire mask. She remembered when her older sister abandoned her because she felt the family was beyond saving. She felt it was every person for themselves. Artemis refused to be like her.

"That might have been true about our family, but I found a new family. And here we're all for one and-"she stopped when she heard the robots say that she had one minute left along with footsteps. She had already assumed that the robots had found her and were about to kill her. Deciding not to give up without a fight, she waiting till the steps were right behind her before swinging her bow at the would-be assailants. When it was caught, she looked up to see that it was none other than her friend Itachi.

A wave of jubilance hit her and she went to hug her friend. Itachi eyed her weirdly, "I rush to help you and your response is to attack me?"

Artemis smiled nervously as she let him go, "I'm sorry. As you can see, it's been a very long night for me."

"What's the situation?" He asked trying to get an idea of what he'd gotten himself into.

"Basically, me and a friend arrived here and got ambushed. Everyone has been captured excluding me. In about a minute unless I surrender myself, my friends will be killed. And if I do surrender I'm pretty sure we'll end up being killed anyways. I'm out of weapons and almost out of time." She answered despondingly.

"Do you know of a way to defeat them?"

"Yeah, an EMP. I know you don't know what that is so to summarize; it shuts down all electrical based technology for a short period of time which helps since the enemy are a pair of mechanical robots. But we need something metal in order to connect the circuits of the Cave's main generator to set off the EMP."

"Will that arrow behind you do the trick?" She turned and saw the arrow she used to help her friends a while back against Amazo. She grabbed it and put it in her quiver. Itachi took his mask off and spoke to her, "We can still save your friends, but you have to trust me and do as I say. You up for it?"

"Definitely."

"Good. Here's the plan…" She listened as Itachi detailed what he had in mind. It worried her on multiple levels but she trusted that Itachi would not let any harm come to her friends. Itachi made his plan abundantly clear because if a single detail was missed, it would fail and result in the deaths of her friends. Itachi couldn't save his team when they were ambushed like this, he wouldn't fail again now that it was Artemis going through this. They left for the hangar to confront the red robots and end this madness.

* * *

Itachi walked back to the hangar to confront the two red robots. He needed to create a distraction so that Artemis would have a big enough window to get a shot off and save her teammates, but more importantly he needed to disable that fire cage before her friend dies. He had to play this smart if this was going to work.

He made it to the hangar and saw Artemis's teammates in the fire cage, along with her unconscious friend lying in a pool of water. He then eyed the other two that were restrained be twisted chunks of metal with water all the way up to their chins. The situation was dire and he needed to act fast.

The red robots confronted Itachi once he made his presence known, "And who might you be? I do not detect you in any of our databanks."

Itachi stayed silent. He activated his mangekyo sharingan and took aim at his target. The red robots started stalking towards him and got ready to attack. _'Amaterasu!'_

He then launched his black flame from within his eyes. Both of the robots dodged the blast and went to counter attack. A fire blast was shot at Itachi at which he dodged. Then a wave of water was sent his way, he weaved his hand signs and countered, _'Water Style! Water Dagon Jutsu!'_

A large amount of water came together to form a giant dragon and charged against the robot's wave of water. After the waves of water clashed into a stalemate, Itachi landed on the ground. The robots gathered to regroup and then started surveying the room _. 'They're probably trying to find Artemis. I have to keep pressing them.'_ He thought.

They soon noticed that two of their captive had been freed. M'gann and Aqualad were still exhausted, but their fire cage was gone. Once the robots saw this Itachi used the moment to rush them with physical attacks. As he battled with them Artemis was a little ways back observing everything.

"He actually did it," she said to herself. "Whatever that black fire was it saved M'gann and Aqualad. The cage just went up in smoke…it's almost like the cage of fire was set on fire. And the best part is that the robots had no clue that they were never the target or else Itachi would have never have missed so badly. He even lowered the water level to prevent Kid Flash and Superboy from drowning. He's a genius."

She looked on as Itachi blitzed them with his taijutsu. He was dismantling them with speed she's never seen before. They may have had super strength, but they lacked in combat experience and Itachi was taking full advantage of that. His strikes and kicks had devastating effects on them, causing external damage to the robots. Each time they tried to use their element Itachi would just counter with an elemental attack of his own. After a while both of the robot's undivided attention was on Itachi and Artemis saw this as her moment to strike.

She walked forward and got a clear shot of the exposed circuit board of the main generator. Once she locked on she fired her arrow. Itachi heard the whizzing sound and figured Artemis must have seen her opening. The robots stopped what they were doing and directed their attention to the airborne arrow. Itachi saw that they were about to try to impede the arrow and took the necessary precautions to stopping them. In the middle of his assault he tagged both of them with paper-bombs and took this moment to activate them. Right before they launched their attacks they were caught in explosions, which allowed the arrow to hit its target.

Both of the robots recovered from the explosions just in time to see the metal end of the arrow hit the main generator and set the EMP off. Immediately all of the technology in the cave was shut down, including the robots. All of the water in the hangar disappeared so she knew that the bomb was successful. Artemis saw that the robots were down and went to join Itachi in the hangar.

"Kaldur how's M'gann?" Superboy asked.

"She breathes. I believe that she will recover. What of Robin?" Artemis then rushed over to check on him. At first glance he wasn't breathing but when he started coughing up water out of his lungs she knew that he would be okay. Itachi watched on from a distance as the team checked on each other.

"He's breathing too." After finally getting air he looked at his friend and smiled, "Way to get traught."

Soon Artemis, Robin, Kaldur and M'gann went to down to free Connor and Wally. Robin explained that once the plan failed he knew his only option was to fake getting captured so that Artemis could escape. He faked his drowning but passed out from the water he took in. Connor expressed how worried he was for his girlfriend.

"M'gann…" She grabbed his hand in hers and gave him a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine."

Artemis found a laser gun that would be useful in cutting her teammates out of their metal prison, but because of the EMP all the machines were down. Not long after, their supervisor Red Tornado joined them and they briefed him on what had just transpired. From his vantage point Itachi saw that another red robot had come like the others and decided to end this once and for all. He leapt down and landed just a few feet ahead of Artemis and her team ready to attack which caused a giant conniption.

"Who is that?"

"How did he get in?"

"Oh great, now we have to deal with this."

"Stand down intruder!"

The only two not to say anything were Artemis and Robin. He figured this must have been her friend that she mentioned and he must have helped her to defeat the robots. Though it did come as a shock to find out that she was friends with a guy like the Crow. He's read up on reports on him in Gotham, including what he did to Black Mask, _'This guy is dangerous. We have to be careful around him.'_

"Stop! It's okay. It's just a big misunderstanding. The Crow is the reason why you're all safe. He helped me take the robots down," She then turned to face Itachi, "That is our supervisor. He's not like the other red robots, trust me."

Itachi lowered his guard after hearing her, but the others were still on high alert. Wally was one of the loudest to protest, "You really let some stranger in here?! What were you thinking? There's a reason we have rules …I mean he could have-"

"He saved your lives! He didn't have to but he risked his life for all of you. How about a little gratitude?" she countered.

"She's right guys. I may not agree with all of this guy's methods, but he saved us. There's no telling what might have happened if he hadn't showed up. We owe him," Robin walked over to Crow. "Thank you for saving my friends."

Itachi nodded back at him. Soon after the others express their gratitude, though Wally was still wary of him. Itachi then saw their mentor walk towards the defeated robots. He looked on and strangely saw a giant robotic sphere free itself from a nearby wall. The laser gun in Artemis's hands went off soon afterwards. Both Robin and Wally saw this and had the same thought, _'The pulse has worn off!_ '

Red Tornado touched one of the robots and then everything went bad. He used his power to create a wind vacuum that was sucking all of the air out of the hangar. Itachi turned and saw that Artemis and her team were all losing air fast. It wouldn't be long before they all lost consciousness and unless he did something soon, they would all die. Thinking fast, Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan and summoned his Susanoo to protect the others. Using its humanoid form, he wrapped its arms around them to try and preserve their air. The strain was intense because of how low he was on chakra. By the time Itachi got his bearings back, all three of the robots were gone. He looked back and saw that the others were all alive and safe, just out cold. He deactivated his Susanoo and sharingan soon afterwards. He was severely low on chakra because of that stunt their supervisor pulled, ' _I should have kept my guard up, but least they're safe at the end of the day.'_

He slid down a nearby wall and watched over them. He'd stay until either they all woke up or help arrives for them. As he waited his mind went to a lot of places, but it mostly focused on Carson and wondering how she was doing. He spent most of his free time thinking about her and hoping that she was doing better since they last talked. Since that night he kept watch over her from a distance to mostly make sure she didn't get into any trouble, but he also liked being near her if only for a little bit.

"Please stay safe Carson…" he whispered silently to himself with the small hope that she'd hear it.

* * *

"Artemis. Artemis can you hear me?" Artemis woke up to the sight of Superman himself looking down at her. Once he saw that she was alright he helped her up to her feet.

Artemis surveyed the room and saw other members of the Justice League were there including Batman and Green Arrow. She figured a good amount of time must have passed while she was out. She also saw that her teammates were all safe and alert, along with Itachi who was off to the side by himself. Artemis gulped at having to explain why he was here in the Cave with them.

"What happened here?" Superman addressed her. Artemis looked at him with anger before responding, "What happened? The Reds happened! Red Tornado and his- Wait, where are they?"

"The Crow over there said they disappeared shortly after we passed out…all three of them. Looks like he saved us again and we owe him another debt of gratitude." Robin answered a bit bitterly.

Superman then looked at the Crow. He was briefed on how he saved the Team and was trying to figure out how to handle all of this. He walked over to Batman to get his opinion.

"What do we do about him? I know he helped save the kids but we know nothing about him."

"You know nothing about him," Batman countered. Superman quirked a brow but Bruce continued. "Let me handle him. You and the others help get this place operational as soon as possible. Have the kids wait in the conference room until I return." He then started to make his way over to the vigilante.

"And where are you going?"

"To meet with the Crow in private. It's time we talked. I have a proposition for him."

* * *

That's another chapter done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Make sure to leave a review, both positive and negative as long as its polite. I thoroughly enjoy reading your feedbacks and ideas. Thanks to all of you who support this story! Until next time guys and gals!


	11. First Impressions

Itachi and Batman were currently alone in an isolated room of the Cave. Batman wanted to speak with him about a few things and didn't want outside interference from the rest of the Leaguers, most of whom were very skeptical about the Crow being here. Bruce sat down and motioned for Itachi to follow suite. He saw that the Crow had upgraded his attire to more standard gear, even though he was still too exposed for Batman's liking. When Itachi finally sat down, they got down to business.

"How did you get here?" Batman started off.

"Artemis. She left a message saying that she was in trouble and I came."

"She must trust you. I take it then that she's seen you without your mask."

"…yes." Itachi answered hesitantly. He had no desire to be psychoanalyzed.

"Good, that'll make it easier for the others to trust you then."

Itachi didn't like where this was going, "Why is that necessary?"

"Because you're going to be joining them on a mission after this conversation is done."

"Why would I do that?" Itachi really wasn't trying to get any more involved than he already was.

"Because you have something that most of them don't…combat experience. Most of them have never been in a situation like what they just faced with the red robots. Had you not shown up, it could have ended much worse. You know just as much as I do that what you know can determine a battle even more so than what you can do. I want them to see you up close and personal, to see how they each have a long way to go if they want the respect they crave."

Itachi couldn't argue with him. There is no way they should have been as outmatched as they were against the robots, not when there were six of them altogether. Sure, they were ambushed, but it concerned him that none of them were prepared except for Robin and Artemis. If that didn't change soon, they won't last long at all.

"Fine, but just this once." He answered after some thought.

"Good, how are things coming along for you in Gotham?" Batman inquired. He's heard good things about the Crow from news outlets all over the city. It's the only reason he was tolerant to him staying in Gotham, but just barely.

"Count Vertigo. He's sneaking his drug into the city. When I get back to Gotham, he's next. "

"I figured as much. He's been inactive for a while now, it was only a matter of time before he reared his head again, and in my city no less."

"I've been trying to get a lead on him for the past five days straight, but all I got was his name."

"He's good for that. I don't think he's working alone either. He and other high class super villains disappeared around the same time; it's too much of a coincidence. For now, leave this to the League. We're more equipped to handle him."

"Since when did I take orders from you?" Itachi responded coldly.

"Since I found out what you look like under that mask…Itachi." Batman responded with a smirk.

"How did you-" but Itachi was cut off, "Everyone is bound to slip up eventually. Just give them enough time. A month ago when Black Mask kidnapped Carson Collins, eye-witnesses reported that she was with a companion. They saw her with a young man just before the attack happened. When the ambulance was transferring the man to Gotham General, the EMT's reported that he woke up, broke out of his restraints, and escaped from a moving ambulance. That isn't something normal people do. When they stopped to search for him, they said it was like he was never there. Then just when I came to conduct my own investigation at her apartment, I find none other than the Crow waiting there as if he already knew what had happened despite it not being fully reported until the day after…too much of a coincidence."

Bruce took his silence as permission to continue, "After pulling all of my notes together, I figured that the only logical conclusion was that the young man and the Crow were one and the same. But before I was sure, I needed proof. So I observed you for the past month, both as Itachi and the Crow. You'd be surprised by how many cameras Gotham has; it's hard not to be seen. You frequent the Wayne Botanical Garden quite often. It was there that I saw you with Ms. Collins, and from there I followed you back to where you both left her apartment earlier that day before the ambush. I started pulling up past recordings from her apartment and it turns out I was right, because more often than not a figure would leave through her back door and return the same way at nights. That figure was the Crow."

"How long have you known?" Itachi asked. He then looked around the room suspiciously.

"No one can hear us. I've made sure of that."

"Not even Superman?"

"Especially not Superman, this room is reinforced with lead. He could be standing right outside that door and not hear a single peep."

"Isn't he supposed to be you're teammate? Don't you trust him?" Itachi inquired.

"I trust him with my life. Just because I trust him, doesn't mean I'm blind to how powerful he is. Precautions must always be made, as I'm sure you know."

Itachi nodded. He knew all too well about that from his life of a shinobi.

"And to answer your question, I've known for two weeks. You're good. If it wasn't for that Black Mask attack, I never would have put it all together."

"How did you learn my name?" he then thought about the possibility of Artemis mentioning it.

"It wasn't Artemis. Video comes with sound. I heard Ms. Collins say that name enough times to figure it belonged to you."

"Why haven't you told anyone else?" Itachi asked.

"Because that should be something that you do if you so choose. I value privacy."

Itachi resigned to the fact that he was discovered and took his mask off. Batman saw that the Crow was indeed the young man from all of the tapes he's watched and he marveled on how young he was, ' _He can't be any older than twenty-two, and yet he has so much power and experience.'_

Itachi put his mask back on and left out of his chair, "Let's go. The sooner this mission is over, the sooner I can get back to Gotham. You made your point…Bruce Wayne."

Now it was Bruce's turn to be surprised, "My eyes are for more than just combat. They let me see people on a cellular level. It just so happens that you and Bruce Wayne have the same chakra network. I do frequent the Wayne Botanical Gardens like you said. It was there that I saw Bruce Wayne give a commencement speech for a new section of the garden that was being opened and since no one person's chakra network is exactly equivalent to another's, it only makes sense that you are Bruce Wayne. Like you said earlier, everyone is bound to slip up eventually."

He then left out of the room. Bruce got over the shock of it and smirked, _'It's like I'm talking to a younger version of myself.'_

* * *

Batman and Itachi rejoined the others in the conference room. Itachi was standing over by the bench where the rest of the team were sitting minus Aqualad, who was talking with Batman privately off to the side. Green Arrow and Black Canary were in the room with them trying to ease their anxiety. It wasn't really working since all they could think about was Red Tornado betraying them and why the Crow was still here. Artemis turned and gave Itachi a smile to try and ease the tension. But Itachi paid her no mind. He was thinking about how he let Batman discovered who he was. He didn't like how careless he's become since crossing over to this world.

Green Arrow offered Kid Flash a bowl of oats to regain his strength, but was immediately rejected. Robin concurred, stating that what they really wanted was answers about Red Tornado and the Crow, to which they were answered with more silence. Most of them gave cautious looks towards Itachi which did not go unnoticed. The only one not glaring was Artemis because he was her friend and Superboy, who seemed preoccupied with whatever Batman and Aqualad were discussing.

Using his super-hearing abilities he listened on, "Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole within the Team. In light of last night's attack, Tornado appeared to be the traitor, but whether he betrayed us willingly or was preprogrammed is still-"

Superboy snapped after hearing this revelation, "You knew!" He then rushed and pinned Aqualad against the wall. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"

The others started to head over to intervene before someone got hurt, "Conner what are you doing?"

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" The others did not like hearing that one bit.

"You knew?!"

"You didn't tell us?"

Itachi stayed back. He wanted to observe the dynamics of this team and see who would approach this with a level head.

"I thought to protect the Team from-" Kaldur was cut off by Artemis.

"Protect us from what, knowledge that might have saved our lives?"

"You almost died." Conner said trying to get M'gann to see his side of things.

"Enough." Everyone turned to see Batman insert himself into this. Conner immediately let Kaldur go and gave his attention to Batman. Itachi watched the display of command Batman had, _'They must all view him in a high regard for them to stop because he uttered one word.'_

"With Red Tornado…missing, the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."

The hulking man that looked to be made out of marble stepped up to introduce himself, "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys."

Everyone looked at each other to try and gage a response to the news. Superboy turned towards Aqualad, "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna-"

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us." Batman declared leaving no room for discussion.

"I have another assignment for this team." They then read a report on how the Gotham mayor was attacked by a gorilla. The Team was none too pleased on the class of mission they were given.

' **Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?** ' Conner said telepathically to M'gann.

"Batman please! Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase." Robin pleaded.

"I never joke about the mission." That quieted all of Robin's protests.

"I checked the sources, I studied the patterns…Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out." Aqualad nodded at his superior.

The rest of the Team left the room, with Wally making a snide remark about it being Aqualad's team. He was about to follow out when he was stopped by Batman again. He turned and saw the Crow approach them both.

"Crow will also accompany you and your team. He will assist in any way he sees fit. If anyone on the team has a problem with it, tell them it was a direct order from me and to get over it."

Aqualad nodded once more before turning towards the Crow. They both gave each other a nod of acknowledgment before heading out to join the team. Everyone was boarding M'gann's ship, including Captain Marvel.

"You're coming with?" Robin asked.

"Sure, we'll have a blast." He answered before boarding.

"Translation: He blames us for Red fiasco. He doesn't trust us." They then turned and saw Aqualad walk up to them followed by the Crow. "It's a big club." Wally said condescendingly. He saw the Crow behind them and scoffed, "Great, they trust the freak more than they trust us."

Itachi saw the doubt they had in what he assumed was there leader in Aqualad. He needed this to be fixed if they had any chance of completing this mission. _'It looks like Aqualad did the same thing I did in keeping everything close to the vest, and now everyone doubts him for it.'_

* * *

The trip to India had been as silent and tension filled as Itachi thought it would be. Everyone acted like there were demons on the ship, and he and Aqualad were the worst of them all by the looks of things. The only person who attempted to have any contact was Artemis and that was only because she had already known him. Everyone else just glared or kept to themselves. Itachi made it a point to talk to Aqualad privately about all of this to get a feel of him.

When they finally landed, everyone left the ship once the area around them was clear. Aqualad then began to give directions to the Team, which none of them were trying to hear since they found out he had been keeping secrets from them.

"Switch to stealth, and we'll review mission parameters." He instructed.

"Parameters? We don't need no stinking parameters." Kid Flash responded.

"It's recon. We know what to do." Robin replied defiantly. He and Kid Flash then started to head off on their own.

"Kid…Robin…" Aqualad started.

"The three of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us. "

"Or did you forget that like how you forgot to tell us about the mole." They then both left with each other, with no regard about the rest of the Team.

Itachi didn't like how this mission was starting. He saw it was getting worse when he saw Superboy try to make M'gann to leave with him so he could protect her.

"Come on, I'll keep you safe." She gave him a look of irritation, **'You're my boyfriend Conner, not my keeper. Stop acting like a character from 70's sitcom.'**

"I just want to protect you." Conner said responding to her telepathic jab at him.

"Like Aqualad protected us?" Artemis shot back, "I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health."

She then turned towards Itachi, "Crow, why don't you come with M'gann and I. Out of everyone here I trust you the most. What do you say?"

"No." Itachi answered. He knew what he was really here for. Artemis shot him a hurt glare before walking away with M'gann into the forest. Conner started to blame the others for letting the Team walk away.

"Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be in charge." When Aqualad tried to explain himself, but Conner blew him off and leapt away on his own. And just like that, the only ones left were Aqualad, Captain Marvel, and Crow. Unbeknownst to any of them, they were being watched from deep within the tree lines, which meant that someone knew that they were all split up now.

* * *

The split up teams were each being stalked and hunted, since the smaller groups made for easier pray. Aqualad, Captain Marvel and Crow happened to stumble upon the site where Mayor Hill was attacked. Captain Marvel was trying to see if this confirmed the validity of the story, but Aqualad was too plagued by doubts to focus. He lamented on how he might have been wrong to withhold such sensitive information, but Itachi stopped him.

"You weren't wrong. In the same situation I would have made the same decision." He spoke.

"But I violated their trust. How am I ever going to get them to believe in me as their leader after that?" Aqualad responded. He was surprised that the Crow spoke or even cared on the matter.

"Trust has nothing to do with it. I'm sure you trust each of them with your life, but it's not just your life that's on the line; everyone else's is as well. They aren't responsible for the safety of the group, as the leader that burden falls on you. It can be a lonely path, and you won't always make the popular decision as it pertains to them, but having that responsibility sometimes means that you have to pick the lesser of two evils, with there being no right answer at the time of the problem. They will move past this and forgive you."

"How can you be so sure? I don't even know how I can prove myself as their leader…" Aqualad mumbled sadly.

"Then don't," Itachi the walked up to him. Captain Marvel watched the scene from a distance, "Prove yourself as their comrade, and more importantly, prove yourself as their friend."

This struck a chord in Aqualad. He'd almost forgotten that being their friend far outweighed being their leader, and he knew what he had to do. He thanked Crow for the sage words, but Itachi shook his head, stating that he hadn't done anything and this will all be resolved by Aqualad alone.

He was about to respond when they all felt the presence of a nearby enemy. He sounded big because the ground actually shook as he approached closer and closer. They all looked up to see a mutated looking elephant stampeding towards their direction.

Captain Marvel flew ahead to try and push it back, but was sent flying by its tusk to a nearby tree. It was then that a second mutated elephant came out of the opposite forest. Both Itachi and Kaldur were trapped in between then. When one of them tried to charge forward, Aqualad and Itachi both leapt out of the way. Itachi easily evaded the beast, but Aqualad wasn't as fortunate as he was tackled and landed over by the still down Captain Marvel. Itachi stayed back to try to observe the beast to try and find a weak spot.

It wasn't just them that were being attacked, the rest of the Team were all dealing with similar problems. Superboy was getting attacked by a pack of mutated wolves, Robin and Kid Flash were being hunted by mutated vultures, and Artemis and M'gann were being hunted by gigantic alligators. Robin and Kid Flash noted how big the vultures were and deduced that they must have been enhanced by cobra-venom. Everyone was struggling with each of their super-powered adversaries, but most of all Superboy since he was alone and now facing what looked to be the leader of the pack of wolves, a white wolf.

Aqualad and Marvel were getting overwhelmed by the elephants when Itachi noticed that both had electrical collars on. He weaved his hand signs and launched his attack. "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The volley of small fireballs went right towards the collar and destroyed it. Just as he thought, the wild animal instantly became passive and stopped with its attack. Aqualad saw this and used his water-bearers to disable the second collar and stop the other elephant. Soon afterwards, both of the elephants left in peace. Captain Marvel sung praises to Itachi and Aqualad for figuring out the problem was the collars.

"The collars indicated intelligence behind this attack. The rest of the team may also be at risk." Kaldur responded.

"I agree. You should relay the information to them and try to regroup." Itachi added.

Aqualad nodded in agreement and went to use his communicator, "Team, report status-"

There was a high screech that cut him off, "The com is jammed. And Miss Martian failed to establish a telepathic link before we split up."

"Actually, you let everyone split up before communications were set." Captain Marvel spoke.

"He's right Aqualad. This is on you as the leader." Itachi added.

"But earlier you said-" but Itachi interrupted him. He now was starting to see why Batman had him go on this mission. "That was to cast out your doubts, but this is to correct your mistakes."

"They would not listen," he defended himself. Marvel and Itachi both weren't letting him off the hook. "I guess…but back at the Cave, Batman got them to stop the arguing with one word." Marvel countered.

"Because Batman is…Batman."

"Hey you don't have to tell me. When I first joined the League, all he did was boss me around and it's hard not to take it personally. But I never disobeyed an order and that's probably what kept me alive."

"Never forget that when it comes to the mission, even though as leader you have to manage personalities; never make it or take it personal. Safety will always outweigh popularity. You and the others need to remember that if you're going to survive and thrive as a team…I know you all can do it."

"How?"

"Because I've met your mentors. They have each passed down their will to each of you…including their leadership. So find them and lead them." Itachi answered.

"Batman takes command. He has to…for the good of the League and safety will always outweigh popularity. Thank you both for helping me understand."

"Hey," Captain Marvel then pointed to his head, "Wisdom of Solomon." Itachi nodded his head. He wanted to make sure Artemis and the others were safe and then finish the mission.

" **Aqualad, can you hear me**?"

" **Yes Miss Martian, report**." He responded.

" **Artemis and I were attacked by animals wearing inhibitor collars, like those used on convicts on Belle Reve Prison**."

They were being watched by a tiger hidden in the grass. Captain Marvel saw this and decided to chase after it. Before Itachi and Aqualad could stop him, he flew away. Itachi looked at Aqualad who just shrugged in response, "Hey, speed of Mercury."

' _It seems like the adult here is more childish than the children on the team_ ' Itachi thought.

Marvel followed after the tiger until it stopped and turned on him. He tried to placate it so that it would let him take off its inhibitor collar. Just as he got close a trap sprung out of the ground that incapacitated him. He looked up to see a tooled up gorilla appear and start pounding its chest in triumph.

* * *

Artemis and M'gann were recovering from their fight with the alligators. Artemis was getting the water out of her quiver while lamenting on why Itachi refused to go with them when M'gann got a message from Aqualad, " **Miss Martian, I need a telepathic link up with the entire Team including the Crow now!"**

She then reached out and established a good link for all of them, though she wondered why he had Crow included in it. Artemis voiced her concerns in the link.

" **Should he really still be giving us orders? And should we really be following them?"**

" **Listen please!"** Aqualad pleaded.

" **Oh good, Aqualad's voice in my head. I so missed that."** Kid Flash responded sarcastically.

" **Hey Kaldur! KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. Of course sense we're moles you probably think we attack ourselves"** Robin added.

" **If he did, he wouldn't tell you."** Artemis jabbed.

" **Superboy are you online or just pouting?"** M'gann asked.

" **Busy, call back later."** He said as he was being attacked by the white wolf. He then was thrown against a nearby giant rock.

" **What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us."** Kid Flash remarked.

" **He's chalant, extremely chalant."** Robin said angrily.

" **How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?"**

" **Or Connor doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves!"**

Itachi and Aqualad were following Captain Marvel's trail. The others kept bantering about the lack of trust in the group. Itachi gave him the go ahead nod and Aqualad put an end to it all, **"Enough!"**

Itachi didn't interfere nor voice his thoughts to the team; he only wanted to listen to see how Aqualad would handle this situation. His mindset was 'your team, your problem, you fix it'. There was no room for babying anymore because now one of their own was captured.

" **Captain Marvel has been captured and we must act as a team to save him."** Aqualad announced.

" **Under your leadership? I don't think so-"**

" **This is not up for debate! You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish to select new leader I will happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here."**

Itachi gave him a nod of approval as they set out to find Marvel. Listening to them banter reminded Itachi that despite all of their talents and gifts, they were all still children who didn't know anything. _'Batman was right…they lack true combat experience. Let's see if they can make up for it with their teamwork.'_

* * *

Elsewhere, Captain Marvel has just woken up strapped into an operation table. He also had a collar inhibitor that took away his ability to move from the neck down. He heard a voice come from the room that explain that the reason he was strapped to the table was because of a procedure that was going to take place. They planned on examining his brain to see the extent of his wisdom given by the wizard Shazam.

Eventually the Team plus Crow all met up and had converged on what they believed to be where Captain Marvel was being held.

" **I'll fly over."** M'gann stated.

Itachi looked over the place with his sharingan and advised against it. Kid Flash concurred, **"Negative, the field is stemmed like a dome over the whole compound."**

" **The high-lines are insulated, but one good shot could cause a momentary gap."** Robin deducted.

" **I see a target."** Artemis declared.

" **Then be ready to hit it. Be ready…all of you. Crow, will you assist me in creating a gap for Artemis?"** Aqualad asked.

" **Yes."** Crow answered.

Crow and Aqualad then made their way over to the base of the compound. Aqualad used his water bearers as a conductor for electricity to tear a whole through as Itachi used his fire blast to stretch it open for Artemis. She took her shot and hit the device that turned the force field off. The others went to join Aqualad and Crow when a monkey signaled for others that intruders were present and activated the alarm. They were fighting off the monkeys when Captain Marvel's captor sent Monsieur Mallah, the gorilla who captured said Leaguer, to deal with them.

Itachi was the first to defeat his attacker, using a kunai to parry and remove its collar from its neck. Aqualad followed after and then gave his team directions, "Remove their collars!"

"Sounds easy when he says it." Robin said while fighting off two of them. Artemis delivered a kick to create some space and shot arrows at Robin's attackers to remove their collars. Two more of them snuck behind her and were about to attack when Robin and Crow each launched their shuriken at the monkeys and deactivated their collars.

Miss Martian was being attacked by Monsieur Mallah when Kid Flash ran in to intervene. He charged at the gorilla but bounced off of him having not inflicting any damage.

"Get your hands off her you darn dirty ape," Kid yelled at Mallah going for another attack.

"You're not taking my brain." Captain Marvel said calmly as his captor was beginning his operation. It was then that his captor revealed itself to be a brain that was attached to a mobile machine. Marvel was confident that the operation wouldn't work on him, to which the brain responded by saying that's what trial and error was for. Just as it was to begin, the brain was attacked by the same tiger that led Marvel to be captured.

"Traitor, you will suffer for that!" He then began to electrocute the tiger through its collar, which Marvel vehemently protested. Out of nowhere, Monsieur Mallah was thrown through the wall which stopped to electrocution. The others joined in to see just who was behind all of this.

"It's The Brain!" Kid Flash announced.

"Ugh, I can see it's a brain." Artemis retorted.

"Not a brain, The Brain."

Mallah then activated the pylon traps that captured Captain Marvel. Everyone was down except for Itachi, who was on a knee.

" **Crow, Superboy, now!"** Aqualad signaled. Itachi then activated his mangekyo sharingan and used his Amaterasu to destroy the device in Mallah's hand. Smashing his way through was Superboy, who was accompanied by the white wolf he was fighting earlier. It pounced on Mallah first and the others jumped in to assist it. Through sheer force and numbers, the Team was able to back Mallah and the Brain into a corner. Aqualad went over a freed Marvel when he saw that they were close to victory.

"Thanks, now one good turn deserves another." Marvel said as he went to free the collared tiger.

Sensing that they were about to be defeated, Mallah cried out in defiance. Superboy walked up to him and dared him to do something, "Try it. I hate monkeys."

The Brain signaled for Mallah to calm down for they would retreat. Changing forms into a more intimidating weapon, the Team braced themselves for a massive attack only to be surprised when all of the lights went out. When they came to, Mallah and the Brain were both gone.

"Wait, that big weapon thing was a light switch?" Kid Flash asked while confused. The others were just glad that it was finally over.

* * *

They Team was heading back to the ship. Artemis noticed that Kid Flash was grinning and asked him about it. His response was to show her his souvenir that was Mallah's hat. She rolled her eyes and disregarded him, while saying that gorillas have lice. He looked at the hat and threw it on the ground from frustration on how stupid that just made him look.

The others were making sure the animals were alright before leaving. Itachi stayed off to the side again while watching the others. Itachi saw how Captain Marvel was interacting with the tiger and pondered to himself on whether or not he was a superhero or an overgrown child.

"The rest of the pack is gone, what are you still doing here?" Superboy asked of the white wolf.

"Think he wants to stay with you." M'gann offered.

"Can I keep him," Conner asked excitedly. Kid Flash chuckled to himself, "First the sphere, now this beast. Dude, you sure make a habit of collecting strays."

"Maybe because he's such a stray himself." M'gann said while smiling at her boyfriend. **"Aren't you?"**

" **M'gann I'm sorry. I was just worried."** He answered.

" **And that's sweet Conner, but on a mission I'm your teammate, not your girlfriend. Agreed?"** She said while lowering herself so that they were at eye-level.

" **Yeah."** Itachi saw the interaction and deduced that they were more than just friends. The looks that they were giving each other spelled it out for him plain as day. He didn't know how to think about it, he didn't care either way but eventually that was gonna cause a rift in their team chemistry if gone unchecked _. 'And by the looks of things, it has been going on unchecked for quite awhile.'_

He turned and saw Robin speak with Aqualad. He was asking him why he kept the mole intel secret. The others gathered around, wanting to know the answer to that as well. Aqualad gave Itachi a look, whom responded by nodding.

"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."

"What? You can't trust him." Itachi noticed how quickly and indignantly Artemis responded and figured she had a personal history with this Sportsmaster person.

"I do not. It seemed possible, even likely that he was attempting to divide the team with false information." He responded.

"And given how this mission went, her nearly succeeded. But you had to consider that it might be true." Robin said now understanding Aqualad's reasons.

"Yes. As leader I did, in which case I did not want to alert the traitor as it would put the rest of the group in danger. I did not want to lie, but sometimes being the leader means being the bad guy."

"I hate to say it, but it makes sense." Robin stated now at peace with the situation.

"I am still prepared to step down."

"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader," Itachi saw everyone in the group raise their hands. In favor of Aqualad. He smiled at the scene behind his mask, thinking about how they just might be alright in the end.

Marvel flew out on his own, electing not to ride back with them on M'gann's ship. Before they started to leave, Aqualad spoke again.

"There is another matter we must discuss," He then turned towards the Crow, the others followed suite. "I propose we take a vote on whether or not we should take the Crow in as a member of the Team. In the past 24 hours he has saved us multiple times and given sage wisdom that I know I will carry with me forever. This Team needs his experience…all of us. I believe it will be the best thing for us. All in favor?"

Itachi looked up to see all of their hands up, even Kid Flash's. Artemis had the biggest smile ever. The Team couldn't deny the fact that without Itachi, they would have died several times over in just the last day. Itachi had a stoic look on his face behind his mask. Having seen everyone raise their hands, Aqualad spoke again.

"It is decided. Crow, will you join us?" Itachi had to really think on this. His head told him to keep doing this alone so that was he wouldn't endanger anyone or have someone discover his past. But his heart told him to move on from the hurt and start living his life again. Truth be told, after all of these years Itachi still felt like the 13 year old boy who massacred his clan and family; like a monster let out of a cage. But could he finally move on and trust someone other than himself again? After pondering long and hard, Itachi gave his answer.

"No, I think it's best for everyone if this was just a one-time occurrence," Aqualad and the others had looks of disappointment. Artemis shot him a special look that said "we'll talk about this later". He mentally sighed at the thought of it since he knew how feisty she would get.

"But…if you ever need my help, I will be there." Itachi stated resolutely. Aqualad smiled at this and walked up to him. He extended his hand which Itachi reluctantly met and shook.

"The same goes here. If you ever need us, we'll be there for you Crow. You may not be on the Team, but you are a comrade of ours, and a friend of mine." Itachi's eyes widened behind his mask. Itachi wasn't used to being described as a friend, he hasn't been since Shisui died.

"Ehhhh, I don't know about friend, but I guess I can consider you a comrade." Kid Flash said to which Artemis smacked him upside his head. "What? How can I consider him a friend when I haven't even seen his face?"

Before Artemis could respond Itachi spoke up, "He's right. I may not be ready to join your team, but I still want you all to know that you can trust me."

Itachi then took off his mask and revealed his face to the others. He didn't look like a scary vigilante that could make criminals go insane, he looked normal to them. Kid Flash was the first to get over the shock and then ran up to him. He eyed him and then speed-shook his hand before Itachi could protest.

"Nice to meet you, and your name is?" Itachi looked down and back up. He smiled at Kid Flash and answered, "Itachi. My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"Well Itachi, I'm Wally. Over there is Artemis, Kaldur, M'gann, Conner, and well…" he looked over at Robin and grinned. Robin smiled and gave him a thumbs up, "And Robin."

They all boarded the ship and headed back to the cave. The trip there was much more lively and they all were much friendlier with Itachi whom acted shy. Not since before the massacre could he say that he had this many friends whom were all so kind to him. He honestly didn't know how to react.

When they got back to the Cave, the Team plus Conner's new pet Wolf went to get changed and go home. Itachi, now back as the Crow, went to talk with Batman again.

"So how were they?"

"Inexperienced like how you said, but they showed potential. They eventually saw Aqualad's side of things and forgave him."

"Good, they need to work as a cohesive unit if they are ever going to succeed."

"I agree. They offered me a spot on the Team."

"And your answer was?" Batman asked.

"No, but if they ever need me I'll be there. I even revealed my identity to them." Itachi answered.

"Why?"

"For their trust. They won't trust a mask, but they will trust a face they know; it's human nature. Plus, I know that my experience won't be enough to get them to the levels I know they can reach, but my trust might."

Batman nodded his head, satisfied with his answer. There was a threat looming that was bigger than the Team, Itachi, or even the whole Justice League. They need all of the experience and trust in each other that they can get if they hope to win. Batman went over to the zeta-tube and set it for Gotham City.

"Keep doing what you're doing in Gotham and await for the Team's call. They will need you, you can count on that."

"And I'll be there." Itachi then went through the zeta-tube and headed back to his home to finally get some rest.

* * *

It has been five days since Itachi went on that mission with the Team, since he allied himself with them. He decided to rest up, only sending his crows to scope out Gotham at night. He felt good about the decision as the days passed because he finally felt like he was starting to move on from all of the darkness that was in his past life. He wasn't the only one who was glad, his ward was as well.

Since taking down Black Mask over a month ago, he had been staying with a kind elderly woman, the same one who gave him his Crow mask. He randomly came across her one night on the prowl and she surprisingly recognized him. She invited him in and didn't take no for an answer. Itachi was flustered by how aggressive she was about it, until she told him the truth.

It turns out she isn't just a regular elderly woman, but an agent sent by the Sage of Six Paths to help guide Itachi, thus why she gave him the mask. She explained how she was a descendant of the Sage's son Asura Otsutsuki and had been given a mission to guide the hero would come to save this world. When she accepted she was sent here to live and wait until Itachi finally was sent over, that was over 80 years ago. Once she revealed her history she then went on to further explain why Itachi was sent here, and how he needed to help save the world. That's why she was glad she extended an olive branch to the young heroes.

She even told him that the great Sage made a few modifications to Itachi. "My dear boy, don't you find it strange that you awoke here with sharingan in both of your eyes despite using the forbidden Izanami Jutsu? Or how you no longer have that pesky disease that helped insure your death? Or even how despite your use of the mangekyo sharingan, your vision has remained perfect? That is the work of my ancestor."

As he thought about it, Itachi did notice significant differences. He was no longer sick and his sharingan felt even stronger than ever before. He just thought that was because of the rebirth, but now he considered the fact that the Sage might have given him new powers to unlock.

"In many ways Itachi, you are the son the great Sage wished he had. You kindness and will to do what is best for all no matter the cost is why he chose you. It is my duty to guide you, in any way possible. Even if that means you have to work for me." She said while smiling.

It was true, Itachi worked for her in exchange for her housing him. It was how he funded his new Crow attire and weapons. It also gave him a good cover story for scouting criminals since a lot of them came through Chinatown. Her name is Ayumi Otsutsuki. She had him refer to her as Ms. Yumi, as it was easier to say rather than her full name. The store was open, but he had just finished his shift. He was about to go inside when Ms. Yumi came out to inform him that customers were outside and she preferred that he assisted them. Not wanting to be rude, he left out to meet said customers.

When Itachi saw who they were, he froze in his spot. One of the customers looked up to see who had just come out to assist them and gasped. The customers who Itachi saw were none other than Artemis and Carson. And Carson soon got over the shock and felt nothing but white-hot anger towards Itachi.

Artemis had one thought run through her head while at this impromptu meeting, "Awkward much."

* * *

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you to all of the new readers and followers of this story, I enjoyed all of your reviews so keep it up! Once again thank you and let me know what you thought or if you have any suggestions for me! Until next time guys and gals!


	12. Revelation

Artemis watched the scene with intrigue. Since meeting each other for the first time in over a month, Itachi and Artemis both had similar yet different responses. While they were both silent, their facial expressions were like opposite sides of the same coin. Itachi quickly got over his shock and had a stoic look on his face, making it hard to read. Carson, on the other hand, was pretty transparent. She showed her anger clearly, as she was fighting back tears so she wouldn't look weak in front of him.

So many thoughts were running through her head right now. Why he left, how he left, and how is he standing before her right now like nothing was wrong; it all rubbed her the wrong way. She wanted to scream at him and lay out all of her grievances, but in the end she calmed herself knowing that it would be useless doing that. She wanted answers, not more silence. After taking a minute to collect herself she asked her first question.

"How have you been Itachi?" She asked as sincerely as she could. He didn't reply. It was like when they first met all over again.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay. I missed you…" She was having a tough time since he was so unreadable. Artemis was glaring at Itachi as she witnessed her friends' struggle.

"I...I missed you too." Itachi responded hesitantly. Carson almost smiled but remembered why they were having this conversation in the first place.

"So…a mask shop huh? I never would have pictured it…so are you usually this quiet towards customers?"

"Would you like to purchase a mask?" Itachi responded dismissively. He sounded like he didn't feel any of the awkwardness that Carson and Artemis did. Carson wasn't going to be dismissed so easily though.

"No! I don't want a mask. What I want is an answer to why you left me like that! You really hurt me." She said starting to cry again.

"I left because it was the best thing for both of us. You may not understand now, but you will someday." He answered calmly.

"You're right…I don't understand. Ever since I met you in that alley I haven't understood a thing apparently! You protected me, listened to me, and cared about me…I thought you…I thought you were the one…." She couldn't finish the statement.

"The one for what?" He asked. She looked up to him and gave a sad smile, "The one who finally wouldn't leave me."

Itachi felt guilt for his actions, but he knew that her being by him wouldn't end well. Black Mask taught him that lesson the hard way. He wouldn't let her be harmed because of him ever again.

"Itachi, just tell me why. If you tell me why you left I'll never bother you again. Just tell me why I wasn't good enough."

"I wanted you to be happy, I still do. But that can't happen with someone like me in your life in any capacity, I'm a cancer. There's a reason why when you found me I was all by myself."

"Isn't that my decision to make? You don't get to control how I feel or what I should want, no one ever has. You know what I think, I think you're scared and that's why you left!" She said loudly. Itachi and Artemis were glad that the shop was empty except for the three of them or this would be even more awkward.

Itachi had no idea where she was going with this thought of him being scared. He wondered if she was trying to get a rise out of him by attacking him now.

"You can't admit it, but you do care about me. I don't know what, but something happened that made you scared. Maybe it was Black Mask, or maybe it was how close we were getting but to all of a sudden pull the stunt you did just doesn't add up. It was like I was speaking to a brand new person. That person tried to break our bond, but that's not possible. For once, I think something happened that you didn't plan on and it scared you into pushing people away; pushing me away. Please, don't push me away Itachi. Let me make the choice on whether or not I want you in my life, and I will live with the consequences."

Itachi didn't know how to respond. It was like he was struggling with the same thing all of the time; letting people make their own choices. He had a feeling that trusting people enough to do that would always be his inner turmoil.

"It's best this way. You'll find someone else Carson. We are on different paths and nothing can change that."

' _How can it be decided when you're not even letting me have a say,'_ Carson's face got even more disappointed. It was like he ignored everything she just said. At this point, she was losing hope.

Artemis couldn't believe what she was hearing, _'Who willingly chooses to be alone…someone who's only used to that probably. I bet Itachi has been on his own_ for _so long that he's gotten comfortable with it…'_

Carson remembered what her mom told her about holding on once she found someone that was worth it. She shed a tear and looked up at him with a look of determination, "I don't believe that. I can't. I don't care what you say, I trust you. I don't know what happened in the past to make you this way, but it's time you got over it. You'll never be happy until you do."

Itachi stared at her but said nothing. He walked over to the cash register and officially clocked out for the day. He gave one last sad look before issuing his warning, "Don't come back here unless you come to buy a mask. Other than that there is nothing here for you."

"What do I need to buy a mask for when you're wearing one so well? That mask of yours is big enough to hide every secret on Earth. And I won't come back here, not until you take it off and show me how you really feel." Carson left in a frustrated mood. She had a headache and was in need of an escape to what just happened.

* * *

Artemis followed Itachi towards the back of the shop when the coast was clear with Carson. When she got there she confronted him, "Dude, what in the world was that?"

"It was none of your concern."

"Hey I'm not on a side. I just want my both of friends to be happy. You have to know that you're better together than apart." She responded as if it were obvious.

"Did you stage that intervention on purpose," She shook her head. "I honestly didn't know that you work here. I don't know if you noticed, but you're not exactly the most forthcoming individual." She joked.

"Why are you still here? Carson already left the store." He stated as they walked back to his room upstairs. That conversation clearly got to him, but he couldn't dwell on it. What's done is done.

"I'm still here because I was told by you-know-who to deliver this to you the next time we met." She then pulled out an envelope that had.

Itachi opened and read it. It clearly came from Batman based on how meticulous it was. He looked up at Artemis who shook her head.

"I don't know what it says. I was just told to deliver it to you. The big guy was pretty specific and clear about that. I think it's a mission for you. Conner overheard him discussing what to do about a handful of bad guys who have all disappeared around the same time; it's worrying them that they haven't heard a peep from them. I thought after that the Team and I would be sent to investigate, but instead I was told to reach out to you and get you this letter. It sucks that they have more faith in you than in all of us…" She ranted.

"Not them, him. This is just Batman's doing. I doubt that the other Leaguers know about it based on the fact that he's not doing this in person and how secretive he's making you be. To be honest, I'd do the same thing if I were in his shoes." It made perfect sense to him. The rest of the League is still pretty skeptical of him. Itachi was too violent for their taste, but not Batman's. Why risk a team of inexperienced heroes when you can send someone like Itachi, who was more than capable and yet still relatively unknown to the criminal circuit. The others would probably be expected which increases the likelihood of them being spotted and compromised. For recon missions like this, the best course of action is to send a single agent to reduce the chances of being caught.

"Thank you for the letter, I'd better get ready." He then got out his tool set and began formulating a plan for this. The only reason he's going along with this it because it's his best shot at getting to Count Vertigo before his drugs kill anyone else.

"Okay, just be careful. She may be upset now but, Carson still cares about you Itachi even if you don't feel the same. Either way please don't hurt her." She pleaded. Itachi didn't give her an answer, having decided to focus on his mission. Artemis took that as her sign to leave.

"I'll head out now and catch up to Carson. I'll try to smooth things over with her. Good luck." She then left out of the room.

Itachi began to mentally map out his plan of attack. After some time had passed, Itachi called out to the presence he felt outside of his door.

"How long were you eavesdropping on us Ms. Yumi?" Itachi asked having felt her presence. The old woman entered the room with a knowing smile that she'd been caught. She came over and read over Itachi's letter.

"Long enough. You're taking missions from the Justice League, how unlike you." She stated curiously.

"It's not from the League, at least not entirely. I'm only doing this because it helps me get to Count Vertigo. He knows that's all I care about at the moment." He replied.

"'He' as in the Batman. I heard that part. I take it that young girl works for the League as well," He nodded without looking up at her, "It seems you don't have to be there until three days from now based on the letter."

"I'll be scouting for the next few days. I'll use my crows to establish an entry and an exit point, along with a backup if complications should arise. Because of my sharingan, all I have to do is be near the meeting and replay my memories of it back to the League when I'm done. If I see him, I'll also be apprehending Count Vertigo too." Itachi never went into a situation blind.

"From the letter I can tell you that you'll be going to a masquerade rave. No need to sneak in because everyone will have masks on; even the targets. For now just worry about distinguishing your targets from civilians and get out of there. He sent you to collect data not fight a full scale battle alone." She uttered wisely.

That helps knowing that he didn't have to sneak in, but a question still popped up in his mind, "How do you know it's a masquerade?"

She chuckled to herself before throwing down a Gotham Now magazine, "I do have interests outside of this shop you know. It's notorious for its anonymity; the one place where any one person can show up and no one knows about it. It's the perfect place where men like Count Vertigo rear their ugly heads out of hiding."

Itachi accepted that answer and went back into his preparation. Ms. Yumi decided to leave him to his work so he'd be as prepared as possible. She was almost out of the door when Itachi spoke to her again.

"You never answered my question." He stated.

"What question would that be?"

"Did you stage that intervention on purpose?" He asked again. She had a shocked look on her face but wound up smiling, _'He really did know I was there from the very beginning, yet he still asked me how long I had been standing there. He catches on fast. The best way to catch someone in a lie is to ask them a question you already know the answer to and see how they answer; tell the truth, tell a lie, answer vaguely, or tell a truth laced with lies.'_

"Yes I did. The girl is right Itachi. You need to move on from the past. If you don't, you'll unlock the power that the great Sage bestowed upon you, but more importantly you won't ever find happiness. You should tell the girl how you feel and be honest about your past, it will bring you peace I just know it."

"Why does it matter?" Itachi said finally looking up at her.

"Because you've earned it. You deserve to be happy and she makes you happy, I can tell. Just a thought, you can go back to your mission." She then left the room. Itachi thought about her words and debated in his head on whether or not he deserved to be happy, he is a killer and there is no way to speak that down. Either way he couldn't dwell on conflicts of Itachi because for the next few days the Crow will be on the hunt.

* * *

Today was the day of the masquerade rave. Itachi had no problems getting inside like how Ms. Yumi predicted. Since everyone wore a mask, there was no reason to card them since the whole point of this party was being anonymous. Itachi literally walked right in, Crow outfit and all. The few people who bothered to ask thought it was just a cool imitation and made comments on him being too small to be the vigilante. Itachi paid them no mind as he was focusing on finding his targets. This place didn't seem like the type of place to find super-villains in Gotham, but The Stacked Deck didn't either and that's where all of the criminals of Gotham mingle when hiding. It's where Itachi first searched for the Count.

Itachi spent the last three days scouting the area out. The rave was in an affluent area where the prosperous and wealthy mingle; Gotham Heights. It was like night and day when compared to where Itachi usually patrols at nights in the more hostile parts of the city. From scouting Itachi found two possible exit routes; the underground catacombs that ran under this part of Gotham and the Gotham train station. Both were prepped so that they could make for a quick and effective retreat should something go awry, but it shouldn't come to that if everything goes according to plan.

He was to find the targets, spy on them until he got enough information on future plans, and leave; a fight was the last thing Itachi needed with so many people here. The only thing was locating one of the villains since everyone would have masks on. He'd look for the people who were off by themselves since it would look suspicious to be alone while in a room full of jubilant people. It's why Itachi navigated through crowds to ward off any suspicion since he still didn't know what he was looking for.

It didn't take long for the rave to get started and the music to blare. Everyone was dancing and shouting like there was no tomorrow. This place had a DJ on one side and a music stage on the other; there was no expense spared. Itachi figured this was to keep everyone's attention on the music and decrease the chances of anyone getting too curious about what was really going on behind the scenes. Itachi was still on lookout while in the middle of this horde of dancers; he wanted to get this done quickly.

As time went by Itachi got asked to dance by a lot of overzealous women. They'd try to dance and grope on him but he'd refuse and go back on watch since the mission was all he cared about. The last thing he needed was a distraction that caused him to miss his window of opportunity. One woman in particular that asked him was different from the others. She had on a dark green kimono with rips along it and was tied around her waist, its length was just above her knees, and she had on knee-high boots. She had on a mask with red stripes and a wide grin, like a Cheshire Cat.

"Wanna dance, or are you going to make me the sixth girl you say no to?" She asked teasingly while indicating that she had been watching him which Itachi didn't at all. He had noticed it a while back but thought she was just a curious girl; now not so much.

"Why are you following me?"

"It's probably the same reason why you're here in the first place; because someone told me to." She then started dancing with him in a flirtatious way, "You should probably dance before someone thinks you're up to something."

Itachi initially refused, but he thought about how it would make him look to others that might have been watching him and reluctantly went along with her. She smirked behind her mask as Itachi was wishing for this to end. She leaned up to him and whispered seductively, "Admit it, you're enjoying this."

Itachi pulled away from her and started to walk away before she drew a kunai from in her sleeve, "I'd be careful if I were you. Everyone is being watched, even if it doesn't look like it."

"You're not me now let me go." Itachi demanded quietly. The masked woman chuckled to herself as she withdrew her kunai back to her sleeve.

"Funny, I drew a knife on you and you didn't even flinch. You even had the audacity to threaten me. I like that and I like you," She then pointed over to the bar where a masked man was sitting by himself. He looked at his watch and got up to head upstairs where very few people were, "I believe that's who you were looking for. You can call me Cheshire Cat by the way."

"I didn't ask," Itachi replied coldly. She laughed again as she retreated into the crowd and disappeared. Before she left thought Itachi could hear her last words to him, "Good luck…Crow."

Itachi wanted to go after her but the masked man was his main priority. If she left the building, one of his crows would now follow her anyways. He didn't like that exchange at all; not how knowledgeable she was or how flirtatious she was with him either.

* * *

Itachi followed the masked man as he headed up to a secluded part of the building. From a distance he noticed that the further the man got, the more he was becoming skeptical of being followed. After walking for a while the man stopped at a door that two guards were watching.

Itachi used his sharingan to scan the room. The room already had six other people in it, all of whom had eerie auras to them. He showed them his hand so that they could identify and allow him passage. He entered the room and the guards locked it behind him, with each of them having a key.

' _They both have marks on their hands, and now that I think back on it, that woman had one as well. That must be how they can tell each other apart,'_ he realized.

Itachi stealthily snuck up on them using the shadows. He figured needed both of their keys to open the door and spy on them. He didn't want them to call for backup so he decided to play it safe with genjutsu. He appeared before one of them and put him to sleep instantly.

"Oh no, it's the-" His partner tried to call for backup but Itachi put under his control before he could finish. He immediately got silent and was waiting for Itachi's instructions.

"Titus, what was that?" He heard come out of the guard's radio. Itachi motioned for him to answer, "It was nothing. I thought I saw something is all."

"Where is Cain?"

"He's inside. The clients wanted to make sure they were protected so they requested that he stay in the room."

"Very well, just remember to check in at the scheduled times. I don't want any more screw-ups out of either of you."

"Yes sir." After that Itachi put him to sleep and used a transformation technique to look exactly like his partner Cain. Using both of their keys, Itachi unlocked the door and walked into the meeting room.

The villains looked up and stopped their discussion once one of the guards entered the room. Batman's suspicions were proven correct. The room was filled with seven of the world's deadliest super-criminals: Wotan, Poison Ivy, Atomic Skull, Ultra-Humanite, Black Adam, the Joker, and Count Vertigo. In his short time in this world he had done research on all types of people and if they were anything like how the rumors and reports say they are, then only catastrophe can come from this.

"What are you doing in here grunt?" Atomic Skull asked.

"My boss wanted to make sure that this room was secure and had me stand guard inside while my partner watches outside." He answered.

"Hahahahahaha! Why do we need to be guarded?! It's not like we're in a room full of psychos and murderers." Joker bellowed.

"Whatever, just as long as your boss doesn't come in I guess. The plants despise him," Poison Ivy said while leering at the transformed Itachi.

"We've wasted enough time on this subject. Let us conclude this meeting so that I may return to Kahndaq." Black Adam muttered now losing his patience with his cohorts.

"Yes, I agree with Black Adam. Let us continue," Vertigo concurred. Joker pouted to himself, "You guys are no fun at all. Just business and not the good kind; you're the horrible 9 to 5 kind of business. Loosen up, by tomorrow we're gonna be rid of the Justice League and then take over the world! Or is it we take over the world and then get rid of the Justice League? Who cares hahahahaha! Just as long as I can skin that pointy-eared bat you all can do what you freaks want with the rest of the super squares!"

"We have to be careful Joker. The only way this works is if we maintain the element of surprise. The League is resourceful, hence why we have all been forced to collaborate on this joint project. Alone the League is too much for us, but together we can conquer all of them…including the bat." Vertigo stated calmly. Itachi figured that he was the leader of this operation.

"What happens after I unleash my plants to attack?" Ivy asked.

"We wait for them to come to us. The sheer number of attacks spread out across the globe will spread the League too thin. We will then make our ransom, they'll refuse, and then they'll send out the b-squad of children they have running around to face us." Humanite answered. He kept eyeing Itachi weirdly, mumbling something about the smell being off.

"After that we fight and apprehend their team of sidekicks, the rest of the League will show up and we use the sidekicks for ransom along with the threat of desolating the Earth. Once they surrender we'll destroy the entire group all at once and begin a new era on Earth. It'll be a world where we rule without opposition and where our will is law." Vertigo declared.

"What if they don't bite for it? What if they choose not to split up and pursue us?" Wotan asked.

Vertigo then pointed to Joker who began to laugh like the madman he was, "Then we let Joker play in his brand new playground. He'll persuade them sooner rather than later after that happens for sure."

"It's all agreed upon then. Tomorrow the Injustice League steps out into the light," Vertigo then motioned that the meeting was finished. Itachi had to deliver this information to Batman and the Justice League immediately before they fell into this organization's trap. He went to leave once he saw that the meeting was over and everyone was leaving through a secret passageway when Ultra-Humanite stopped him, "You forgot something."

"Yes…" Itachi answered thinking his cover was blown, "Make sure to tell your boss he'll get the rest of his deposit wired to his account at midnight."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to let him know." He then left out of the room. Once he felt the coast was clear he transformed back into his Crow attire and started to make his way downstairs. He needed to leave fast and hope that he wouldn't be too late with this new information.

* * *

Itachi made his way back downstairs where the rest of the party was being held. He officially finished the second part of the mission. Back when he was the captain of the Anbu Black Ops, Itachi had more than his fair share of infiltration missions. Infiltrating and spying on villages was always the easy part. He found that the hardest part of those missions was always getting out without alerting the enemy of your presence. The music was blaring even louder than ever and everyone was dancing like there was no tomorrow for them. Little did they know if the League is unable to stop the attack tomorrow, it just might end up being their last dance.

Itachi was making his way through the crowd. His first exit route will be through the Gotham Catacombs since the likelihood of opposition being there waiting will be at a minimum. He scanned around for more guards, which he could tell apart now that he knows that they all have marks on their hands. They were acting frantic and searching the congregation _, 'Looks like the guards I took out missed their check-in times. They must know they've been infiltrated and are on high alert.'_

As he was walking and scanning the room Itachi was bumped by someone. He turned to see that it was a hulking man that was similar to Batman in size and build, only he was in orange and black and had a lot of weapons on him; both guns and swords. The man scanned Itachi before he walked up to him. Itachi already knew who he was before he opened his mouth to address him. He figured this must have been who was in charge with security, none other than the world greatest assassin Deathstroke.

"Deathstroke," Itachi said knowing this was no costume, this was the real deal and he was in trouble. Deathstroke was a walking armory.

"Crow," The assassin responded. Deathstroke knew that the one before him was the real Crow. He had done his homework and knew his description all the way to what type of boots the vigilante wore, "You working tonight?"

"Yeah…" Itachi answered knowing he had been caught and was in for a battle.

"Sounds like you've had a good night so far. You actually slipped past me, you really are good. That must have been you those idiots saw earlier, wasn't it?" He asked already knowing the answer.

"Unfortunately," Itachi answered. He saw all of the guards around them in the crowd start to focus and converge on his location. He then felt a shift in Deathstroke's demeanor, "I'm sorry to hear that Crow, but I have a mission to do."

"So do I," Deathstroke then drew a pistol and shot at Itachi who had summoned a kunai to deflect the bullets. It ended in a stalemate. Itachi reacted first by front kicking Deathstroke to the ground hard. He then threw down smoke bombs for cover as he made his way to the catacombs. There was an entrance to the underground maze in the building; he just had to get to it. Deathstroke was still reeling from the powerful front kick he received, "After Him! I want his mask!"

The men then gave chase to Itachi. Since he was still in the cover of the smoke, which the crowd around him thought was part of the show, he had the jump on all of them. The crowd kept cheering louder and louder which gave Itachi another veil of protection. It wasn't until bodies started hitting the floor did the crowd start to panic and disperse.

As the men came close to him, Itachi would deliver brutal blows to them and progress his way through the crowd; never staying in one spot for too long. He eventually made it to an open area where he was surrounded by about four men. They were prepared for him as they all had covering over their eyes now to avoid being put under genjutsu. Itachi summoned forth shuriken and launched it at all of their hands to disarm them. He rushed two of them and took them about with swift strikes to their heads. Itachi turned and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to another of them who dared to try and take Itachi's back. He was out cold with a major concussion. The last one drew his gun and fired at Itachi, but his speed was too fast to be hit. He dodged every shot until he was right in front of him.

Itachi heard two more militia men coming around the corner and acted fast. He gripped the forearm of the current man he was grappling with and guided his aim to make him shoot the others as they turned the corner. They were each shot in the hip and shoulder to avoid killing them and also prevent them from continuing their pursuit of him. Once Itachi saw they were out of it he delivered a palm strike to the current gunman's throat and drove his knee to his face to knock him out cold.

He scanned the area again and saw that they had lost visual of him. Using this to his advantage, he summoned a shadow clone of him to act as a diversion and take out as many of them as possible as he continued on to the catacombs. Once he saw the big amount of militia following after his clone, he snuck away and headed towards his destination.

* * *

Itachi had made it to the catacombs. His clone was shot and disappeared a while ago so he knew that he had put enough distance between him and the militia. What had him worried though was the fact that his clone hadn't seen Deathstroke before it disappeared, meaning the most skilled killer on Earth (not named Itachi) was unaccounted for, which is a dangerous thought. He was a fourth of the way through the maze when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw the woman in the cat mask that spoke with him earlier. She also had armed men behind her. They were dressed the same as the men upstairs and they also had covers over their eyes. He no longer had the cover of crowds of people and loud music, but that wouldn't matter since they were the darkness now which was a just as good.

"Loose ends?" He asked her.

"Just you." She replied.

"You helped me out earlier just to turn around and hunt me now?" Itachi didn't understand her way of thinking at all.

"Didn't you pay attention earlier handsome? I like you so I saw no harm in giving you a little assistance, not that you needed it." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth.

"Yeah…" He stayed focused even though she was flirting with him again. He knew she was trying to bait and get a reaction out of him but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"But now that we've reach this part of our little date, it's time I fulfilled my mission and eliminate you. For what it's worth I enjoyed dancing with you, but I'm kinda interested in this other guy at the moment which means our fun has to end, sayonara." She said now changing her tone from playful to sinister.

Itachi figured her plan out pretty quickly. She wasn't talking to him just for the thrill of it, she was stalling until more of her men arrived. Just as she finished her last sentence two men rounded the corner and began shooting at Itachi with semi-automatic machine guns. He dodged the shots and receded deeper into the catacombs as the militia ran after him. Cheshire stayed behind, thinking that Deathstroke's men should be enough to handle the vigilante by themselves. What she didn't know was Itachi had already figured this into his plans for escape.

While scouting the area in the days prior Itachi made contingency plans for something like this happening. He rigged this entire cavern with paper-bombs that were primed to go off at any point that Itachi needed them too. They weren't powerful enough to cause a cave in, but that didn't mean he couldn't use them to disorientate and flank the enemies. The bombs coupled with the low visibility were more than enough to even the odds against the militia that were hunting him.

As he was retreating Itachi used his Phoenix Flower Jutsu to blast his pursuers away. He kept the attacks miniature so it wouldn't cause any fatal injuries. They saw the fire balls as a deterrent to rushing in blind. Itachi used their hesitation to set off his first wave of bombs. About a dozen men got knocked unconscious from the impact of the explosions. The ones that were left standing were dazed because of the loud resonating sounds from the blasts that echoed throughout the catacombs. Itachi then used the darkness to creep up on them and incapacitate any of the survivors.

He had about two dozen or so men left chasing him. Itachi would have to take them out on his own until he reached the next wave of armed bombs. He also had the cavern filled with fake bombs to confuse the enemy and alter their attack patterns. Because of the first wave of explosions, everyone was more spaced out to avoid being ambush all at once. This allowed Itachi to pick them off easier since they couldn't discern bombs were real and which were fake.

He saw a group of about five men straggling around and decided to ambush them. He grabbed one of them from behind and put him to sleep with a choke hold. The next two were taken out by shuriken that cut through their armor. The last of the group where blasted away with Phoenix Flower technique.

Itachi dropped to a lower level of the catacombs for more cover. He rounded a corner and was face-to-face with a man with a shotgun. Itachi reacted quickly by leg sweeping him to the ground before he could be shot at. Itachi was on top of him and had an angle to see about four more men approaching in this direction, but they couldn't see him because he was on the ground hidden in darkness. He shot fireballs laced with shuriken at them to knock them about before they knew what hit them. Just as he was about to get up he felt a presence behind him. He pushed the downed solider away to prevent him from being accidentally killed and jumped away as rounds were shot at him from his spot on the ground. Itachi landed, kneed him in the sternum, and used the gun the soldier had as a club to crack over the man's head and knock him out. Not forgetting the soldier he swept into the ground, Itachi delivered a hard stomp to the downed man's head to put him out of commission and continue onwards.

Itachi was in the middle of weaving hand signs for the Phoenix Flower technique again when he heard men behind him. In one swift he motion he stopped weaving the hand signs, summoned three shuriken, and turned to launch them at the militia behind him. They were to slow to react and were all incapacitated from the attack. Itachi heard men in the intersecting hallway in front of him and decided to pause for cover.

' _This would be a lot easier if I could kill them instead of just knocking them all out. I can't even use genjutsu since they all have visors over their eyes so I can't establish eye contact. I'd just point if it wasn't for the fact that I'd be shot by someone nearby. Deathstroke really did his homework if he deduced that the way to combat my genjutsu is by attacking in waves and reducing my time to initiate it. It's a good thing that hallway has the rest of the bombs in it,'_ he thought.

Once he finished weaving the hand signs for another volley of fireballs, Itachi saw his opportunity and activated about half of the bombs in the hallway. The men that weren't taken out from the blasts of the bombs got taken out from the blasts of Itachi's fireballs. Itachi saw about four men following after the sounds of the blasted hallways and one coming from the hallway he just came out of. He took out the single soldier first by rushing him and connecting with axe kick that broke the man's collarbone. Itachi finished him off by driving him headfirst into a nearby wall.

' _There should be about eight men left. Four here and four up ahead,'_ he deduced. Wanting to take these guys out fast, Itachi switched up his jutsu. "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Itachi turned the corner and blasted everybody in sight. In less than three seconds, three of the men were incapacitated. As Itachi was weaving hand signs for a follow-up jutsu, a soldier came out of nowhere to rush Itachi. Itachi stopped weaving and shoved him against the wall, removed his visor, and put him under a genjutsu. After bringing all of the unconscious soldiers out of the hallway, Itachi used the rest of the bombs to block that entryway should more men arrive to pursue him.

He was almost out of catacombs and most of the men were taken care of. The last four men came out and surrounded Itachi. He dropped a smoke bomb with a large enough radius to cover the entire area. In the smoke Itachi finished weaving his hand signs from earlier and got his Water Bullet Jutsu ready. Itachi unleashed powerful torrents from within the smoke and took everyone out. Once the smoke cleared Itachi was the only man left standing. He summoned another shadow clone to go back into the catacombs and ward off any stragglers that may have still been in there. The real Itachi kept forging ahead till he reached the end of the catacombs and escaped.

* * *

Itachi was now miles away from the masquerade party and was about to exit Gotham Heights. He hadn't seen any of the soldiers in a while and assumed he was in the clear. When Itachi took this mission the last thing he wanted was to get into a prolonged gunfight with assassins. He wanted to get in and out quietly. But now he was on the radar of Deathstroke and this woman calling herself the Cheshire Cat, which wasn't even the worst news of the night. An impending attack tomorrow was top on the list.

' _As Itachi I have Carson to deal with, and as the Crow I have assassins and super-criminals to deal with. At this point in time, I think I prefer the assassins and super-criminals.'_ He thought not wanting to deal with the drama between him and Carson. Not even distancing himself from her could stop the inner conflict she made him feel. It feels like the Itachi she views him as is at war with the Itachi he views himself as, and there needs to be a winner soon for both of their sakes.

As he was deep in his thoughts he heard the sound of a revved up car heading his way. Thinking fast, he leapt out of the way as a car rammed into the row of parked cars he was in front of. Quickly exiting the car was Deathstroke with pistols in each hand and aimed it at Itachi.

"Your night just got worse Crow."

* * *

That's it for this chapter. This is part one of the next arc of this story. It will focus on the fight against the Injustice League. I hope you all enjoy reading it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and told me your opinions, I really enjoy them so keep it up. I hope to get this next chapter done within 1-2 weeks so lookout for it. Thanks again and have a good one peeps!


	13. Crow vs Deathstroke

"Your night just got worse Crow." Deathstroke started shooting his firearms at Itachi as soon as he got out of the car he crashed. Itachi landed behind the row of parked cars behind him and ducked to avoid being hit. Deathstroke continued his assault by following Itachi down the row of cars while still trying to shoot him. Once they both made it to the last car it became a contest of who would turn the corner faster.

Itachi won and was able to slide across the hood of the last car and drive his elbow down hard on Deathstroke's arm to get him to release one of his guns. Deathstroke tried to counter by shooting with his other gun, but Itachi saw it coming thanks to his sharingan and countered it accordingly. Itachi parried Deathstroke's shot away from his body and used a two-on-one arm grip to dislodge the other gun from Deathstroke's hand. Deathstroke would try to counter by delivering an elbow aimed at Itachi's head but got kick across the street. Itachi used this moment to retreat before Deathstroke could regroup.

Itachi made it to an alleyway when he was grabbed from behind and thrown through the building next to him. Itachi landed on his feet and saw Deathstroke jump through the hole in the building to go after him. Itachi couldn't believe that not only was this assassin quick enough to catch up to him, but was also explosive enough to toss him without challenge. He quickly deduced that Deathstroke wasn't a normal human, _'There is no way he should be able to keep up with me. He took a head-on kick from me and got back up like nothing happened. He must be physically enhanced with something.'_

Deathstroke charged at Itachi, who held his ground and stood ready to counter. Itachi leapt over Deathstroke and kicked him through the wall that was behind him. He felt he didn't have to hold back as much with someone like Deathstroke. While the bounty hunter was still on the ground recovering Itachi followed up with his attack by unleashing a jutsu on him, "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"

The water torrent blasted Deathstroke through three more walls until he was out of the building complex and into an open area. Itachi dashed ahead to finish the fight before more damage was done. Deathstroke leapt back to his feet and used a level change to deliver a hard cross to Itachi's chest that stunned him. Deathstroke would try follow up with more strikes to the body and head of Itachi while he was still stunned. Itachi recovered quickly though and started to get adjusted to Deathstroke's fighting style thanks to his sharingan. He was soon countering and blocking everyone one of Deathstroke's strikes, and Itachi began to deliver critical counters whenever he saw openings.

Deathstroke switched it up and delivered a kick to Itachi's body which was caught. Itachi kicked out Deathstroke's planted leg only to be reversed and rolled into an arm-bar submission. Deathstroke's fight IQ was way higher than Itachi expected and if he didn't act soon, Itachi would get his arm snapped. Itachi switched the position of his thumb from upwards to sideways to alleviate pressure and prevent any more damage. Once he did that he was able to gain a dominate position by getting to one of his knees and forcing Deathstroke onto his back. Deathstroke quickly saw this as his opening to draw his knife and attempt to stab Itachi in the face. Itachi caught the blade and they soon found themselves in a stalemate.

Itachi used his free hand to summon a shadow clone to attack with a kunai since Deathstroke was still on the ground. Deathstroke acted fast and drew a spare gun he had hidden in an ankle holster and shot the clone in the head. The clone blew up upon impact and allowed Itachi to create space from Deathstroke by leaping backwards. Deathstroke got up and started unloading his gun at Itachi, but was too slow to hit him. Itachi used his speed to overwhelm Deathstroke and kick his gun away from him. The two then began to engage in a fist fight and it was clear Itachi was the far superior fighter. If it wasn't for his physical enhancements, Deathstroke would have lost this fight from the very start. His physiology made him stronger, faster, smarter, and more durable which kept him in this fight, but the advantages Deathstroke really had over Itachi were his healing ability and his willingness to kill.

Deathstroke drew his dual katanas and tried to decapitate his foe. Itachi wanted to end this fight now before possible reinforcements arrived. Itachi summoned a kunai and they both engaged in a battle of blades. Itachi dominated early in the dual thanks to his proficiency in kenjutsu, not allowing a single strike to land while connecting with any cut he aimed for. It didn't matter how flashy Deathstroke's moves were because Itachi's sharingan gave him the clear advantage. Itachi flipped backwards to avoid a swipe, land on his hands, and sprung forward to kick one of Deathstroke's katanas away. He then dropped his kunai, almost taunting Deathstroke to rush in. Deathstroke charged forward and began unleashing a flurry of sword strikes that would cut down most men. Itachi ducked, parried, and dodged every strike aimed at his direction. When he saw an opening thanks to an overextended strike, Itachi went for the finishing blow.

He kicked the katana out of Deathstroke's hand and into the air. Deathstroke tried to connect with a hook shot but Itachi ducked under it and countered with a flying knee that stunned him. Itachi used this moment to catch the still airborne katana, sweep kick Deathstroke to the ground, and drive the blade through both of the killer's hands at the same time. Itachi had successfully pinned Deathstroke to the ground. Deathstroke yelled in pain from having both of his hands stabbed through and glared at Itachi from his spot on the ground.

"It's not over Crow!" He yelled.

Itachi didn't pay him any mind seeing as he was defeated. He teleported away and left his opponent fuming. Deathstroke, not wanting to fail a contract, ripped his hands free from his katana. Both of his hands were ripped in half all the way down to his wrists, but that wouldn't stop him from continuing his pursuit since he knew he'd heal in a matter of moments. Deathstroke smiled through the immense pain that he was in, _'It's been a while since I've fought someone like you Crow. You remind me of Batman in a lot of ways, but that's where you'll fall. He has limits and so do you. I have none.'_

He sped away once his hands healed. He came across a car approaching him, pulled out another gun from one of his many holsters, and shot the man and his passenger wife dead. He showed no remorse as he dumped their dead bodies on the pavement and drove away in pursuit of his prey.

"I'm not finished with you Crow!"

* * *

Itachi was travelling via rooftops after he finished with his fight with Deathstroke. He could admit that the assassin was far more skilled than he originally deduced. The man was about as skilled as a jonin back from his world. Itachi had no doubts that he could defeat him in an all-out one-on-one fight but that wasn't the issue. The issue was this killer's code of ethics, or lack thereof. He would do anything to fulfill a contract, even if that meant killing innocent people.

Itachi remembered reading how Deathstroke once set an entire village on fire just to kill one man. Any man capable of doing that was not someone to be trifled with.

As Itachi continued heading towards the nearest subway he noticed a disturbance occurring on the street below him. Down below was a car charging through like a raging bull. It was driving in and out of lanes, crossing over sidewalks, running lights, and hitting innocent bystanders. Itachi got a better look and saw that it was Deathstroke behind the wheel of the car. The assassin poked his head out of the driver's window and began shooting at Itachi.

' _This maniac is out of control,'_ Itachi had to stop Deathstroke before he caused any more damage. Itachi quickly summoned some shuriken and launched them at the cars wheels causing it to stop. Deathstroke quickly got out and began to shoot at as many people as possible.

"If I can't keep chasing you, I'll just have to make you come to me then Crow!"

Deathstroke was confident that the vigilante would have no choice but to confront him if he wanted to save these people. To him the Crow was nothing but a poor copy of Batman. Sure, he could acknowledge that Crow had skill, but Deathstroke still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He knew that Crow was heading towards the subway to mask his trail, he knew because that's an escape route he'd take if the roles were reversed. That's why he has men stationed there just in case he failed in killing the vigilante.

Itachi leapt down to the street and charged at his foe. He quickly weaved through the respective hand signs and launched the Phoenix Flower Jutsu at Deathstroke. Deathstroke saw through it and held his ground. He knew Crow usually performed that technique as a diversion while using the opening to strike his opponent. The key to countering that strategy was staying focused and keeping visual contact on your enemy. He used his blade to deflect all of the fireballs that were close to coming into contact. He saw Crow use the cover of the fireballs to launch a sneak attack and prepared to counter. He threw down smoke bombs and timed his change of levels until Crow was right in front of him. Just as Deathstroke was about to strike him down with his blade, Itachi surprised him by leaping upward at the last moment.

Deathstroke looked up to see his adversary perched up on a rooftop. He scowled behind his mask and drew his gun out again. He was about to shoot at Crow, but stopped when he saw him start to point at him. Deathstroke immediately tried to get out of his line of sight to avoid being put under a genjutsu. He knew that the Crow had two methods he could use to initiate that nightmare world of illusions he put criminals under; through eye contact or by pointing at his target.

Deathstroke prepared for whatever world of horrors he was about to endure, but after a few moments passed he became curious. Reports stated that the effects were immediate but he still didn't feel like he was being taken away from the real world. It was then that he realized a few things: he sensed the giant unoccupied truck that had halted behind him and he could smell the gas fumes escaping it. The truck looked like it would explode at any moment. He looked around and saw that he was the only one left near it; the rest of the people were a considerable distance away. It was then that he realized that he had been tricked.

' _Bastard! Those fireballs were never aimed at me; he fired them at the truck behind me. That charge at me must have been a stalling tactic so that the rest of the bystanders could get away to a safe distance since he knew I'd keep my focus squarely on him and I fell for it. Now I'm about to take the full brunt of this explosion.'_ He thought bitterly.

The truck blew up and since he was so close to its proximity, Deathstroke had little time to avoid the blast. Itachi watched as the truck erupted into a fireball of smoke that enveloped Deathstroke completely. Itachi's plan worked just as it was supposed to. Ever since he was a small child he knew the first and most important rule of combat is to always know your battlefield. When Deathstroke initially reappeared he began to shoot at Itachi on the rooftops. It was while dodging the bullets when Itachi saw how focused Deathstroke was on him, which would ultimately be his undoing.

Itachi started to travel again, except now he was changing courses from the Gotham Subway Station to the abandoned Westward Bridge. Itachi knew that explosion wouldn't stop Deathstroke, even at pointblank range. His armor was too advanced for that and his healing ability would heal any damage suffered. Deathstroke would recover soon and continue his pursuit. Itachi had a general idea of how Deathstroke kept finding him and planned on using that to his advantage.

The good thing about Westward Bridge was that there were no civilians allowed to occupy it; something about a string of bomb threats that recently occurred there that caused the police to shut it down. People literally got out of their cars and ran to safety. It would be a barren battlefield without any civilians that could get caught in their cross-hairs. It would be a dual between Deathstroke and Crow; Itachi was done holding back and was determined to make this their last dual.

* * *

Deathstroke didn't take long to recover from the head-on truck explosion. He was lucky that he could jump and shift his body so that the thickest parts of his Promethium armor could take the brunt of the explosion. He wasn't worried about anything too fatal happening since his armor protected him from a punch from Superman once. He wound up being sent flying into the nearby convenient store where he would lay on the ground reeling from the pain. The injuries weren't nearly as bad as they could have been; only suffering a few broken bones and a mild concussion. When Deathstroke healed from his injuries he exited the store and went back on the hunt for Crow.

He looked down and did a weapons check. He was out of ammunition in all of his guns which left him with only his Promethium Sword. It was made solely out of Promethium; the hardest metal on Earth. It could cut through anything. Deathstroke looked down at his wrist gauntlets to see just where the vigilante's location was. Unbeknownst to Crow, Deathstroke had a tracer placed on him. It was how he was able to keep up with the vigilante after all of this time. This has become more than just a contract with him; it's now a point of professional pride. He has gone up against the likes of Ra's al Ghul, Green Arrow, Deadshot, Superman, and Batman himself.

' _I will not be bested by some no-named punk!'_ Deathstroke sprinted as fast as he could which was about 60 mph. According to the tracer, Crow was at the abandoned Westward Bridge.

"He hasn't moved from that area in a while. He must have figured that I would survive the blast and knew I'd continue the chase when I healed. That bridge was abandoned ages ago. I see…they'll be no interference there and we'll finally find out who the best is between us. I swear I won't stop until I drive my blade straight through your heart."

* * *

Itachi was currently on top of one of the bridge's suspension cables. He looked down and saw Deathstroke walking towards the center of the bridge.

' _Him being here confirms it then,'_ Itachi leapt down from his spot and confronted the assassin. He landed in front of Deathstroke and examined him with his sharingan, _'His armor seems to have taken the brunt of that explosion. I see no evidence of internal damage to his bones or his organs; if there were, they must have healed by now. He seems just as fit as when we first crossed blows. And looking at it now, the sword in his hand is different from his dual katanas. This blade is made with a lot more of the material that is in his armor.'_

"That was a cute trick back there, but this is it Crow. This is where I impale my blade through your heart." Deathstroke announced.

Itachi stayed silent. He had no interest in a petty war of words. Deathstroke saw this and chuckled, "Please stop trying to be Batman. You're nowhere near his level. I am superior to you just as I am superior to him."

"Who are you trying to convince; me or you?" Itachi countered.

"Why you arrogant-" He was interrupted when Itachi charged him faster than ever before and connected with a strong right cross to his abdomen that broke several of his ribs. Deathstroke was slow to get back up, holding his ribs wile in severe pain from the punch. He could tell that Crow was done holding back now.

Itachi continued with assault by rushing towards his downed foe. Itachi reached him and decided on going for an axe kick. Deathstroke quickly rolled out of the way just in time to see his foot create a hole in the floor. Deathstroke unsheathed his sword and began his counterattack. He started to swing his blade at Crow with every intention of decapitating him. He kept his movements tight since they were in a closed off battlefield. The abandoned cars really restricted movements so everything had to be perfect or he'd get countered by Crow for sure.

Itachi saw the swipes at him and used head and body movement to evade them; all while keeping control of the pacing of their fight. Once he felt they were in a comfortable spot on the bridge, Itachi landed a solid oblique kick that knock Deathstroke off balance and flipped backwards high into the air to create distance. Deathstroke could see Itachi weave hand signs and prepared to fight off the incoming volley of fireballs that were about to come his way. Just as he got into his defensive stance though he saw that the specific hand signs Itachi wove were different from before and grew worried.

Itachi finished with the signs and unleashed his clan's signature jutsu, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

A massive orb of roaring fire left Itachi's mouth and headed right for Deathstroke. He knew he wasn't going to be able to deflect something that big and made a dive to get out of the way. A giant molten crater was left in the ground and most of the sidewalk area of the bridge had been blown off. Deathstroke looked on in shock, _'If I hadn't gotten out of the way I would have been done for. My armor won't be able to protect me if I get hit with that much fire.'_

Before he could recover Itachi rushed him again. He had a kunai in his hand and went straight for the kill. Just as Deathstroke got up he had a kunai driven right through his chest, or so it seemed. His armor was too thick to be penetrated by something as weak as a kunai; it barely made a dent. Deathstroke saw this mistake and took advantage of it.

"I win!" He knocked Itachi back and drove his blade straight through Itachi's chest. Itachi stood there in shock as Deathstroke laughed. Moments later Itachi detonated into a pointblank explosion that sent Deathstroke airborne. Deathstroke looked to see what he assumed was the real Crow in the air with him. Itachi was heading directly for him with a kunai ready.

' _The same thing will happen as before,'_ Deathstroke thought as he crossed his arms to block his chest. Itachi saw how the armor stopped his clone from penetration and decided to switch it up. Itachi saw Deathstroke move to protect his chest and at the last moment switched targets. He flipped the kunai to his opposite hand and aimed it directly at Deathstroke's eye. Itachi used his free hand to keep Deathstroke's arms in place so that they couldn't deflect the attack. He then successfully drove his kunai right through Deathstroke's eye, causing the man to cry out in pain.

Itachi then kicked the assassin down back towards the ground. Deathstroke landed in the roof of a car with so much force that the car was sent hurdling towards the hole in the bridge that Itachi created with his giant fireball. The car was just barely hanging on to the bridge. It was teetering back and forth where the slightest movement would cause it to go over and fall into the Gotham River. Before Deathstroke could get up, Itachi threw shuriken that had wire connected to it and trapped the assassin on the roof of the car.

Deathstroke could only watch with his one good eye as the wire wrapped around and trapped him. He looked up to see Crow catch his blade that was still in free-fall and land on top of the car he was trapped on.

'This idiot is going to make the car tip over,' he thought worriedly. He looked back up through his bloody vision to see his opponent raise his blade up slowly, _'He's going to cut me loose…just like Batman. The coward must have just done this to prove a point-'_

He stopped his thoughts when he saw Crow drive his blade all the way through his chest, or specifically his heart.

Itachi bore down in his defeated opponent. He summoned his clone right after using the Fireball Jutsu to test out a theory. He wanted to see if his kunai could pierce his armor or not. Back when they first fought Itachi used one of Deathstroke's own blades to pin him down so he knew it could be pierced, but he needed to know by what. It seems that the only thing that can significantly pierce Deathstroke's armor is something that is made of the same material. Back when Itachi was examining him, he saw that Deathstroke's mask had no trace of the element in it. That meant it could be pierced easily if given the chance. The clone wasn't used purely for testing his theory; he also wanted it to get Deathstroke into position so that Itachi could finish him off. That meant taking that strike through the heart so that he could detonate the clone at the right time and send Deathstroke airborne.

Because of how the clone attacked him moment prior to being airborne, Deathstroke was already of the mindset that his chest area was the target. By the time he realized that Itachi was going for his eye, it was too late. Pinning him to this teetering car to immobilize him was the next step, which is why he used his defensive movement to subtly change which section of the bridge they were fighting on. The fireball knocked him off balance and got Deathstroke to take his eyes off of his opponent which ultimately led to his defeat. Once Itachi figured that his armor could only be pierced by something akin to it, he made a move for Deathstroke's sword and drove it through the aorta of Deathstroke's heart so should he attempt to free himself, it'll only cause him to quickly bleed to death.

Itachi leapt off of the car and left Deathstroke pinned on top of there. Between the kunai in his eye and the sword through his heart, Deathstroke knew that he had lost this fight. If he tried to make a move he'd tip the car over and drown. He glared at Crow through his lone eye, but eventually wound up smiling behind his mask.

"You…you're nothing like Batman. He would have never used such deadly tactics in a fight. If it wasn't for my healing ability I'd be dead for sure. But you already knew that didn't you. Blowing that truck up wasn't just to stop me; it was also your method of testing the extent of my healing abilities, wasn't it?" Deathstroke asked.

Itachi nodded. Deathstroke started laughing even louder, "You truly are something special Crow. Here I thought this was a fight on equal terms, but in reality you were always three steps ahead of me. You're nothing like Batman…or me for that matter. When I look at you, I feel fear for my life. The only other person who has been able to make me feel that way is the old man; Ra's al Ghul. I…I've read stories about how devastating the old man was back in his younger days, how calculating he was. Looking at you now is like I'm looking at the younger version of Ra's. That man believes in killing for the greater good of the planet, no matter how big the number is. He has killed millions and just like him, I can tell that you've killed before and not just once. You've killed enough to burn away for an eternity. Trust me I know, I'm a killer too."

Deathstroke then started to cough up a lot of blood but continue on, "The old man will be most pleased to find out about you Crow."

Itachi had enough of this madman's rhetoric. He got back on to the roof of the car and stared down at the assassin. He then drove his finger into the wound created by the sword still in Deathstroke's chest, causing the man to moan in pain.

"You won't be able to track me anymore with that device. That was smart putting it on me all the way back at the party, but did you really thought I wouldn't have eventually figured out how you kept up with me for all this time. You showing up wherever I went confirmed to me what that devices true functions were. Stay out of Gotham. And as for this Ra's al Ghul, give him a message from me the next time you see him."

Itachi got back off of the car. Deathstroke felt that since he had been bested that he could honor the vigilante's request, "What's the message?"

Itachi then kicked the car off of the ledge and caused it to fall into the Gotham River. Deathstroke was quickly sinking deeper and deeper into the river. He had to act fast or he'd drown. Luckily, he had contingencies for situations like this. He activated the retractable metal blades in his gauntlets to cut the wires that were constricting him. He would have done so earlier, but with Crow right there he knew he had to wait for his moment. Now that Crow removed his tracer, there was no way of keeping track of him so he had to concede this fight to him; the was far from over though.

Once he was free from the wire, Deathstroke knew the hard part was about to begin. He had to dislodge himself from the car without moving the blade or he'd risk bleeding out because of his aorta, but if he was too rough he might cause the wound to get worse. So Deathstroke swiftly surged forward so the sword would stay in place. He'd just remove it later when he was able to find a doctor since his healing abilities wouldn't cover his heart being sliced open.

After what seemed like an eternity, Deathstroke was finally able to free himself from the car. He was currently floating underwater with a kunai in his eye and his sword through his chest. He'd lost a lot of blood and was exhausted from his fight with Crow so he'd use the cover of the water to escape. Just as he was about to escape he noticed something sparking and lighting up the interior of the car. When Deathstroke inspected it he saw that the car was filled with paper bombs that were seconds away from detonating. Deathstroke figured he must have set them off when he removed the blade from the car and he doesn't have enough time to escape the blast range of that many bombs. He smirked in resignation, _'I think I figured out the message he wanted me to deliver.'_

All of the bombs went off and engulfed Deathstroke. Above land, Itachi noticed that the bombs had gone off by the geyser that had erupted behind him. Itachi planned this entire fight out from the very beginning. The whole time his endgame was to get Deathstroke on that specific car because it was filled with paper-bombs. These bombs were different from the ones back at the catacombs because unlike the catacombs, these bombs were at maximum charge. The way he had it set up, should Deathstroke attempt to free himself from the car and use the water as a means to escape he'd set the bombs off because the sword acted as the detonator based on how it was placed. The sheer force it would take to remove the blade without it moving from its spot in his heart would cause enough friction to create a spark that would set every bomb off. Itachi left no stone unturned.

Itachi gave one last look back towards where Deathstroke was beaten and sighed. He didn't want to resort to blowing him up, but he wasn't much choice given how skilled and determined the assassin was. If his healing ability was as potent as Itachi hypothesized it was, then Deathstroke should still be alive, but he will be out of commission for a long time.

Itachi sensed that the fight was finally over. He took out his arrow and sent a message to Artemis, "I'm heading over to the Cave. Whoever your current superior is, inform them to summon Batman and the rest of the Justice League."

He then teleported away and started heading to the zeta-tube in Gotham to deliver the information he gathered to the League.

* * *

Back at the Cave, Itachi was in a meeting with the founding members of the Justice League. Artemis had to rush back to the Cave so that she could inform their supervisors of the week; Captain Marvel and Zatara. When Itachi arrived he went straight into the conference room with the Leaguers and hasn't come out for hours.

Aqualad and Robin got tired of waiting and were in the middle of a training section while she and the others were left guessing what was being discussed in the room. Conner couldn't hear a word for some reason so all they could do was wait. And this was supposed to be her off-day. The only reason she is even here is because of all of the chaos that transpired in Gotham, which of course she found out was Itachi.

Just one look at how tethered his clothes were gave it away. She and Robin wanted to investigate it last night but were given strict orders not to. Batman said that it was a League issue, whatever that meant. But seeing Itachi showed them that he must have stumbled upon something big that was happening, especially if it caused all of the founding Justice League members to convene here.

They were getting worried because reports started swarming in about gigantic plants attacking cities around the world not too long ago. These plants are causing widespread damage and needed to be stopped but for some reason nobody was telling them anything.

Conner and M'gann had left to get snacks for the wait. When they returned Robin and Aqualad noticed how close they were walking together and smiling at each other. It didn't take long to put the pieces together.

"You know they're a couple right?" Robin asked.

"I believe I knew before they did." Kaldur answered.

They then turned and saw Artemis and Wally. The two clearly didn't know about the relationship based on the fact the Wally was complaining about it. Robin asked whether or not they should tell the two, but Aqualad decided against it. He figured it should be up to Conner and M'gann to decide who knows and who doesn't.

Just then, Batman and Itachi emerged from the conference room. The team gathered around and Batman pointed to the news feed. They asked where the rest of the League was and Batman informed them that they went ahead to start fighting the plants. Robin asked if they were going out there to help fight the plants. Batman answered no.

"The League will soon have the situation under control. That's not why we're here. According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus' blockbuster formula to Cobra." Batman started.

"He combined it with Bane's venom to create cobra-venom." Wally finished.

"The Brain used it to create his animal army," Robin added.

"And also upgraded Wolf with it." Conner said while petting his furry companion.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars like the ones at Belle Reve Penitentiary."

"Batman is it possible that the plants are also on cobra-venom too?" Artemis asked.

"Yes, I had Green Lantern run a spot analysis. The plant's cellulose does contain trace amounts of a cobra-venom variant." He answered.

"These cannot be coincidences. Unrelated criminals are cooperating with one another worldwide." Aqualad surmised.

"Yes. Last night I had Crow go on a covert mission. He infiltrated and was able to spy on this group of villains that consist of Wotan, Poison Ivy, Black Adam, Atomic Skull, Ultra-Humanite, Count Vertigo, and Joker. According to Itachi their plan is to divide and conquer us. We are going to spring that plan."

"Wait what? Why are we going with their plan again?" Wally asked.

"Because it's the only one they have. All we have to do is spring it and beat them. That depends on you all though." Itachi answered.

"He's right. That's why your mission will be to confront and defeat the Injustice League. The other Leaguers and I will fight of the plant attacks until you all are able to shut them down."

"What about Itachi? Will he be joining us in confronting the Injustice will or will he assist the League in combatting the plants?" Aqualad asked.

"I'll neutralize the plant threat in Gotham City. The other Leaguers will focus on the other locations of the plants. Once that's done I'll join you in fighting the Injustice League but not a moment before. I have something important to attend to first." Itachi answered. He and the League decided this was the best course of action. This way, should the Team fail there will be backup in Itachi since the Injustice League still don't know that he is cooperating with them.

"But we need you Itachi. If what you say is true, then the best course of action should be us fighting together. That way we can defeat them faster and protect Gotham as a team. Plus, there are more of them than there are of us." Robin rebutted.

"No, I have faith that you all can last long enough for me to finish up in Gotham. The people in that city need me more than you do." Itachi said definitively.

"But you don't even know if you're going to be able to handle those things on your own. At least take one of our supervisors with you." M'gann said worriedly.

"I'll be fine. This isn't up for debate. It's already been decided so get ready and go. The sooner this happens the more likely you'll succeed. The enemy is operating under the guise of you all being on their time of attack, but now you know what to expect and who to expect it from. Pretty soon they'll make a broadcast where they'll state their demands, but by the time that happens you'll already be there."

"I think I get it. If we speed up their timetable by even a little bit, they'll fall apart and give us an opening for success. That means us leaving now is the correct choice of action." Aqualad realized.

"Exactly. Get suited and head out." Batman said before zeta-tubing to go help his teammates.

"Where is their base of operations," Wally asked. Zatara stepped up and used a locator to find Wotan's mystical energy, "Etocal retnecipe fo yrecros! There. That it is where you'll find the Injustice League's central control system."

The Team saw that it was the Louisiana Bayou and locked in the coordinates. They went to get changed and head out. Artemis stayed behind though just to get a read on Itachi's mindset presently. She had a feeling the real reason Itachi was starting off in Gotham was so that he could protect Carson. She was going to ask him to extend that courtesy to someone else too.

"Please look after my mom Itachi. She's all that I have left." She asked sincerely.

"You have my word that I'll protect her." Itachi liked Artemis' mother a lot. She showed him kindness when she didn't have to so protecting her was the least that he could do.

Artemis smiled and rushed to catch up with her teammates. Itachi headed off to the zeta-tubes to go to Gotham. Batman called out to him before he left out.

"I'd tell you good luck but you clearly don't need it. I'm glad Gotham has another person to protect it. Here, take this," Batman threw a communicator towards Itachi, "Use this when Gotham is secured and either myself or Superman will fly you to where the Team is." Batman then left with Zatara and Captain Marvel. Marvel was pouting about not being able to join the Team on their mission.

Itachi sighed and got ready for the chaos he was about to walk into. His plan was to get to Gotham, find Carson and Paula Crock, and get them to a safe haven. That way he could neutralize the plants without worry of collateral damage. Once he was done with that he'd inform the rest of the Justice League and join the others somehow.

' _Gotham needs me…and Carson needs me. I won't fail either of them.'_ Itachi transported back to Gotham to end all of this destruction for good.

* * *

Two figures emerged on a shore far away from all of the ensuing chaos in Gotham. Both of them had re-breathers on suggesting that that had been underwater for a long time. One of the figures was dragging the mangled, abominable body of their cohort. The identities of the two figures were Cheshire Cat and Deathstroke.

To say that Deathstroke was in bad shape was an understatement. His right eye was as good as gone. The eyeball itself would heal, but the vision would never come back because of how much damage it sustained. He still had his sword impaled through his heart, specifically his aorta so if it was pulled out he'd bleed to death. That was just the tip of the iceberg. Because of how close he was to the explosion underwater, Deathstroke's suit melted onto his skin from the searing heat. It would take extensive surgery just to remove it from his body. And worst of all, he had his lower extremities blown off completely by the blast. Everything from the waist down was gone. If she hadn't have shown up when she did, he would definitely be dead by now.

Crow must have known she was near because she could have sworn she saw him look right at her direction before disappearing, _'I guess that's why he was so comfortable leaving Slade in such a vulnerable spot. He must not have wanted me to follow him and made sure my attention would be on securing Deathstroke.'_

When Cheshire Cat went to retrieve Deathstroke before he drowned, she was shocked to see that he was literally half the man he was the last time she'd seen him. Swimming with him in this state was a challenge and after what seemed like eternity they finally made it to the shore. Once they got to solid ground, she dropped him and collapsed from exhaustion.

"Slade, you are useless. I told you not to underestimate Crow and now look at how pathetic you are. Crow made you look like an amateur. You're lucky that our leaders still need you or I would have left you back in that river. It looks like you're going to be out of action for a while because of the extent of your injuries, even with the Lazarus Pit. You have to start all over again when you're legs grow back, including learning how to walk and learning how to fight with one eye."

She then thought of her encounter with the Crow. While they danced she did what was asked of her and placed the tracer on him so that Deathstroke could find him, but Crow still wound up nearly killing the man who was supposed to be the world's greatest killer. She smirked and started to chuckle to herself.

"Crow you truly are unlike anything I've seen before. You're nothing like my sister and her band of losers at all. I know I said that our fun had to come to an end, but it looks like I've changed my mind. I want you…and I will have you." She declared.

* * *

It looks like Itachi is the winner…at least until Cheshire Cat gets her way with him. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the fight scene between Deathstroke and Itachi. It was fun to write. Next chapter will focus on Itachi's fight against the cobra-venom plants. If you have any thoughts on the chapter please leave a review. Until next time guys and gals!


	14. He Who Protects

Today wasn't going the way Carson and Carla thought it would be at all. Today was the day Carla's Café would finally reopen. Carla kept it closed after a series of events that kept her preoccupied. The first event was that her shop was ransacked by Black Mask's men. They caused a lot of damage and even killed an innocent woman; that devastated Carla. She and her soon to be former husband decided that it was best for her to delay reopening the shop and keep a low profile at her home until Black Mask was finally caught. Carla did so because she loved and trusted her husband Phillip, so imagine her surprise when she saw him being arrested by Commissioner Gordon and charged with colluding with Black Mask. They said he helped that murderer try to kill Carson and her brother James.

She broke down in tears having seen that. He begged her to forgive him, but he disgusted her. She told the police to take him away and she hasn't seen him since. The fact that he claimed to do all of it for her made her feel even worse. How many people suffered because of her? She stayed up a lot of lonely nights thinking about that. But that was in the past, she felt that today she was ready to move on finally.

She reopened her Café with Carson by her side. It didn't take long for the customers to pile in either. They first paid their respect to Maria, the woman who tragically lost her life that day. Carla dedicated a table in her name as a monument to her and all of the profits from that table would go to her son Robert.

The Café was livelier than ever before and for once it seemed like an eternity, both Carson and Carla were happy. James attended the opening too so that he could support his sister and their friend of the family. He was at a table looking at his sister taking orders and smiled _, 'My family finally feels whole. I'll never let it be broken again.'_

"It's good to see you again child."

"It's good to see you again too. Do you want the usual?" Carson asked.

"Yep," The elderly customer said eagerly.

"One strawberry parfait with a side of extra fruit and a cheese omelet with basil coming right up then," Carson then went into the back to give Carla the order. She found the redhead looking over the Café with a smile on her face. She walked up to her friend and smiled too.

"A while ago I never would have thought that this shop would be opened again. After what happened with Maria and Phillip, I lost any will to keep doing this. But here I am now in this café, my mother's café."

"What made you finally decide to reopen it?" Carson asked.

"It's a part of me. I love this café like it was my own child. I've already lost so much in my life…I don't want to lose this too. I don't want to lose you either Carson." Carla answered.

"You won't lose me. What happened with Maria hurts, and I'm sure what happened with Phil hurt even worse. You loved him and even after knowing what he did you still love him. Love makes every pain feel worse." Carson said sadly.

"You sound like you're talking from experience." Carla said teasingly.

"Oh shut up. All I'm trying to say is that when something bad happens to something or someone you love, you can't just give up. I hate Phil for what he did, but I wasn't married to the guy; you were. You didn't give up on this café, so don't give up on him." Carson then grabbed Carla's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Thank you. I'll try to forgive Phil someday, but I need time first," Carla then went back to smiling at her younger companion, "I hope you take your own advice too someday."

Carson busted out laughing, "Oh don't get me started on him. It'll take a lifetime for him just to tell me how he really feels. I don't know why the concept of happiness scares him so much…" she replied sadly.

"Itachi doesn't seem like the type to be scared of anything. He must have his reasons." Carla said coming to Itachi's defense.

"You sound like Artemis. Some part of me thinks that he's found another woman and that's why he won't tell me anything. It's not like he'd have a hard time; he's beautiful…in a dude kind of way." She spoke while starting to blush.

"You're jealous…and blushing. You're so in love with him it's ridiculous." Carla squealed but was shushed by Carson.

"Shush. James might hear you. I still haven't gotten to telling James about Itachi. He'd flip for sure. He's not used to the concept of his sister dating yet." She whispered embarrassingly.

"Don't worry your secret is safe with me," Carla looked at Carson seriously, "Itachi isn't interested in another girl and I'm sure he's not scared of dating you."

"Then why is he so set on being alone." Carson said while being confused on the concept of men in general.

"My best guess; he was in love with another girl once and it didn't end well." Carla said sadly.

"He never mentioned any ex to me. So what if he did have one? They broke up. Everyone does at some point, but that doesn't mean you just give up on happiness and-" She was stopped but Carla who still had sadness in her eyes.

"What if they didn't break up though?" Carla responded.

"W-What do you mean by that?" Carson asked now confused.

"The next time you see him you should ask Itachi about it. I bet you'll figure out why he's in no rush to move on," She then looked at Maria's table, "Some things are just too painful to move on from. Some things you have to live with it for the rest of your life."

Carson was about to respond when she heard her brother shout, "Everybody get down!"

Carson dropped as a huge plant vine came crashing through. It destroyed most of Carla's Café and injured a lot of people inside the shop. When she looked back up, Carson saw what everyone else did; chaos. Gotham City was under attack from a gigantic plant that was destroying everything in its path. Only death and destruction could be heard.

Carla got up and silently wept for her café. It was gone. The people inside were severely injured and unless a miracle happens, they will all die.

* * *

Itachi watched from above as Gotham City was being attacked by a gigantic plant monster. Thanks to the cobra-venom it was infused with, it destroyed tons of building with little effort at all. He rushed to the streets to save whatever civilians he could. He saw a couple across the street who were about to be crushed and made a move to save them.

"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" The fire ball incinerated the vine before it could hit them. They saw that their savior was the Crow and paused. They knew that the vigilante only came out at night so that must mean that the city was in great danger for him to be here now. They gave the vigilante a nod and ran to safety.

As soon as they were gone Itachi surveyed his surroundings. The vines sprouted from underground and the source of them seems to come from the center of Gotham; Midtown Gotham City. He wanted to make sure Carson was safe first so he sped to her apartment over by the Gotham Narrows. He'd be able to get Artemis's mother as well.

Along the way he assisted in any way that he could without causing too much attention on himself. Every time he saw a straggler trying to escape he'd assist them by getting them into a safe zone or by attacking the plant. He had to be careful of how to attack the vines because some of them release spores that are poisonous. He stuck to fire attacks and kept all physical contact to a minimum. He tried to save as many people as possible, but there were already a lot of casualties.

One of the vines of the plant took out an entire five story building. Cars all over the city were either abandoned or completely destroyed. The police and firemen were spread thin and on the verge of losing the city before Itachi arrived. Itachi helped them out considerably when he summoned two clones to assist them. The damage done was decreased drastically thanks to his clones. Using fire attacks to cut off the vines and restrict its freedom in certain parts of the city helped save countless lives. But that didn't change the fact that lives were still lost because of the attack.

Itachi finally made it to Carson's apartment complex and didn't waste any time in barging in. He leapt through the window that led to James's room. He went straight to the living room and saw that no one was home. After cursing his luck Itachi quickly decided to move on; he'd just have to keep looking for her elsewhere. He opened the door to head to Paula's room but stopped as a vine ripped through the entire apartment complex. Almost everything got destroyed. Things went from bad to worse as the vine started to release that poisonous gas to the outside air.

' _If I don't move quickly anyone that's still alive is going to wind up dead,'_ Itachi thought as he covered up to protect himself from the gas's effect. He heard a muffled cry for help on the other side and figured that Paula must still be alive. He needed to get rid of this giant vine before he could get to her though since it was blocking his path. Realizing that he had no choice, he activated his mangekyo sharingan and readied his eyes, "Amaterasu!"

He watched as the vine screeched in pain as it was being incinerated thanks to the black flames. Itachi sprinted to Paula's room as soon as a pathway opened up. When he made it to her room, Paula was on the verge of collapsing from the poison. She was covering her face to protect against the poison. She was attempting to escape but the vine was blocking her pathway too. It was especially hard for her since she was confined to a wheelchair. When Itachi finally reached Paula he lifted her up and leapt out of her window. They landed across the street from the apartment complex. Itachi went to check on her as soon as they were safe.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yes…just tired. It's been…a long time…since I've last had to…fight poison. How is Artemis? Is she safe…is she alright?" She answered while out of breath.

Itachi took his mask off since she already knew about him from when he was staying at her place for a time, "She's with her friends."

"Good. What…what about Carson?" She asked.

Itachi shook his head, "She wasn't in her apartment, nor was her brother."

"She…she must be at work. I-I heard her and my daughter talking about it…last night. The school is closed for today…that must be where she's at." She surmised.

"Thank you." Itachi and Paula turned to see the vine that attack the apartment complex let out one last screech before the black flames completely consumed it until it was no more than ashes. Paula marveled at it since she's never seen black fire before in her life.

"Did you do that," Itachi nodded at her. She then noticed how his eye was bleeding and shrieked, "Itachi?! Why is your eye bleeding?"

"It took a lot of fire to take that vine out since it was so big. Bleeding is a way for my eyes to tell me that I'm overdoing it."

"You should listen to your eyes then." She said sternly. Itachi shook his head and put his mask back on. He lifted her up and leapt into the air. To say that Paula was terrified was an understatement. They began travelling via rooftops.

"Where are we going?" She asked while clinging to Itachi for dear life.

"To Carla's Café in the Gotham Narrows. Once I get her and any other survivors there, I'll take you all to the nearest safe-zone. Then I'll destroy this plant and leave to help Artemis on her front."

Not wanting to say it, Paula opened her mouth to ask him a serious question, "And what if Carson's isn't among those survivors…"

Itachi stayed headstrong despite the fear of Carson being dead creeping up on him, "Nothing changes. She wouldn't want me to mourn her. She'd want me to save as many people as possible. Once you all are safe and the threat in Gotham is taken care of, I'll still go to help your daughter."

"You'd be able to move on just like that." She asked not confused by him.

"The mission comes first; it always comes first." He said resolutely. But inside he didn't know what he'd do if he saw her dead. It would probably break what little humanity he had left in his life. He silently hoped that that scenario would never come to pass.

"What is your mission?" She asked.

"To save you, Carson, and all of Gotham City. You're my home now and I swear I'll protect you all," Paula smiled at him as he increased his speed. They were only a few miles away from the café. She thought back to how much her daughter raved about him to her. At first she thought it was just some teenage crush, but now she understands why, _'Itachi isn't a vigilante. He's a hero. Artemis is right to put her faith in him…I think I'll put my faith in him too.'_

* * *

No one had any idea why all of the mayhem was occurring right now. What started as such a beautiful day has now turning into a fight for survival. James now finds himself in the position of having to take charge and get everyone left in the café to safety. A rescue unit came earlier and got most of the patrons out first, so all that was left was himself, Carla, and Carson. They had to wait for another rescue unit to swing by and take them to a safe zone. He reached out to his contacts over at ARGUS but he still hasn't gotten word back yet.

Another part of the roof started falling down and made the three survivors huddle up to avoid being hit. Carson and Carla were terrified right now because that giant vine was still right outside the shop causing damage to the surrounding area. It was probably what was holding up the rescue unit from picking them up. They couldn't wait in the café because of how unstable things had become, but if they went outside they'd undoubtedly be crushed by the vine which left them in no man's land.

Having thought about for long enough, James decided to go on the offensive, "We have to leave this shop. If we stay any longer we'll be crushed by the roof. And if we aren't then our only exit will be blocked and then we'll really be screwed."

"But that giant vine thing will crush us the moment we step outside. It's suicide." Carla countered.

"Not necessarily. If we can make it to the roof of that building across the street from us and hop across the roof, we'll be out of that vines range of attack and be able to be reached by a rescue team." James said hurriedly. They didn't have much time before the roof above them would completely cave in.

"I don't know. If that vine catches us, we're dead James," Carson said having doubts in her brother's plan. James didn't falter though and spoke like the soldier that he was, "If we stay here, we'll die little sister. I know it's not the best plan, but it's the only one we got. Between you and me, I don't like the idea of us just waiting to die like cattle. We need to move now Carson. I promised mom and dad that I'd protect you Carson, so cowgirl up and let's go."

After a moment of trepidation, Carson and Carla wound up going with James's plan. The three of them made it to the door and readied themselves. James went out first to see if the coast was clear. He saw that the giant vine was attacking some buildings not too from them and made the call for the girls to head out.

"Go! Don't slow down for anything. Get across the street and into the building!" They all then sprinted for their lives. There were cars, rubble, and bodies all around them. The rest of the roof over Carla's Café caved in just as they left. James was the first one to make it across the street with Carla not too far behind him. Carson, though, was still making her way.

She was almost there when her brother and Carla screamed out for her to stop. She halted just in time to avoid being crushed by the vine of a giant Venus flytrap. The plant emerged from out of the ground and growled at Carson. She was so scared that she couldn't move. James tried to get its attention by shooting it with his gun, but it ignored him and focused on Carson.

Carla and James had tears in their eyes as the plant went to crush Carson. Carson looked at them with a sad smile and tears in her eyes _, 'I guess this is it for me. Crushed by a plant…some life I had. I'm sorry James…Carla…even you Itachi. I wish…I wish I could see you one last time. Take care of yourself…'_

She closed her eyes and waited for the end that never came. Just as one of its vines was about to strike her a giant fireball came from out of nowhere and incinerated it. The Venus flytrap screeched in pain. Carson looked up to see the Crow land in front of her with her neighbor Paula on his back. He looked back her for moment but went right back to the plant in front of him.

"Why are you in the middle of the street? You could've been killed." Crow asked aggressively.

"W-We're trying to get to the rooftop of that building right next to us. The rescue team is blocked off from us thanks to all of the destruction around us so we need to go to them. My brother said it's our only way to make it out alive." She answered.

Itachi looked and saw Carla and James across the street staring at them. Itachi shook his head, _'This isn't a well thought out plan. I know they didn't have many options, but to expose themselves like this could have ended badly had I not shown up.'_

He took hold of Carson and leapt across the street to where James and Carla were at. Being in the air like that reminded Carson of Itachi but she chucked that up to just wishful thinking. Itachi put Paula on James's back, "Get everybody to the roof. I'll hold the plant off until you all are safe."

Before James could say anything back Itachi sprinted back to the flytrap and started using his fire jutsu to suppress it. This was bigger than the other plants and smarter too. Whenever he went for its head it would use its vines as a shield. And to make matters worse, another of the giant vines from the main plant was heading this way too. He looked back and saw that the others were already inside heading towards the roof. Itachi hoped that he could fight this threat off long enough for them to get to safety because his eyes were staring to tire from overuse.

* * *

Carson, Carla, James, and Paula were making their way to the roof. James had Paula on his back but didn't have much trouble getting around. As they traveled up the stairs they could see parts of the raging battle going on outside through windows they passed by. Searing flames and loud screeches could be seen and heard from outside. James shook his head while grunting. He really didn't like the Crow and the fact that the vigilante saved his sister again while he sat and watched grinded on his nerves.

Carson was still stuck on her interaction with Crow. She could hear the concern in his voice for her even though he was rude about it. Something about the vigilante really stuck with her, she just couldn't put a finger on it. Carla was just glad everyone was safe. She's seen enough destruction for one lifetime.

Once everyone made it to the roof they could see Crow doing major damage to the giant flytrap. The flames from his Fireball Jutsu had eradicated most of it, only leaving its head and main stem that connected it to the mother-plant. A vine from another plant came to its defense by using its thick outer layer as a shield just as Itachi unleashed another fireball to kill it. Now Itachi had two of them to deal with.

James saw this and urged the others to hurry. He didn't want to risk being caught by one of the plants. They all got to the edge of the rooftop and prepared themselves for the jump they'd have to make. They just needed to jump across two rooftops and then they would be able to descend again and get to a safe-zone.

"James you should go first since you have Ms. Crock with you. Once you get her to safety you can be our safety net for when me and Carla jump." Carson stated. James nodded at his sister, indicating that he agreed with the plan.

"Hang on tight." He told Paula. She clenched on to him as he leapt across the rooftop. Once he made it to the ground he put her on the ground softly as she thanked him and went to the edge again.

"Alright, one of you needs to get a good running start and jump as far as you can. There isn't that big of a distance so you should be fine. I'll be right on the edge to catch you." James yelled out.

"Carla you should go first. I'll be right behind you." Carson said. Carla disagreed though.

"No. You need to jump first. You're younger than me so you're more of a priority." Carla argued.

"We don't have time for this. You're going and that's final," Carla went to argue but Carson cut her off, "Listen to me. The best choice is you. I hurt my ankle before at the café. It's why I was behind you guys when we crossed the street. I don't know if I can make the jump. If you're there with James to help catch me though, I might have a chance. Please, Carla…just go. I'll be right behind you I swear."

"You had better be." The two ladies hugged before Carla took a few steps back to get a running start. She sprinted as fast as she could and leapt across the rooftop. James was there to catch her just as he said he'd be. She thanked him before joining him on the edge. She told him about Carson's ankle and they prepared to reach out and catch her as she made her jump.

"Alright, just take a few steps back and run as hard as you can. You can do it sis."

Carson said a silent prayer and took a few steps back. She started to run to the edge so she could jump and meet her brother. Out of nowhere a vine came crashing down on the rooftop she was on. The impact of it threw her off and she wound up undershooting the jump. James and Carla both reached out, but neither of them could get to her. They were forced to watch Carson fall to her death.

Carson thought she was going to die. She was falling fast and from the height she was at, she'd die on impact. She closed her eyes and started crying and preparing for the end when she noticed that her fall had stopped. Carson didn't look up at first because she was still in disbelief. She felt a warm presence holding her. She thought that her hero was Itachi until she opened her eyes saw that it was the Crow.

Itachi was able to incinerate most of the plants and was going for the kill when he saw a third plant sprout out and attack the roof Carson was on. He saw that Carson was falling when and stopped what he was doing to go save her. Thankfully he was able to catch her before the worst happened. As they were ascending upwards Itachi could sense that the vine was going to try and strike again. He let his instincts take over and evaded the attacks until they were in the right position Itachi then flung Carson and himself inside where the vines couldn't reach them. Carla and James watched as the pair landed safely inside building, with Paula looking on from a distance.

* * *

Crow made sure they were safe before he turned to check on Carson, "You have to be more aware of your surroundings, or you'll get yourself killed. The plants are attacking this building to get it to fall on top of us. Once I get us out of here I'll hold them off until you get across the rooftops safely."

"But there are three of them now. I know you can do amazing things, but spouting out fire isn't getting the job done anymore. Please come with us." Carson retorted.

"No. My place is here fighting these monstrosities and saving this city. I can't come with you. Please, trust me." Itachi knew he was the plant's targets now. They'll just chase him if he ran which would put Carson and the others in more danger than they already are. Carson was adamantly against his idea.

"No, to hell with this city. Gotham wouldn't even mourn you if you died. Think about your loved ones; people who would be hurt if something ever happened to you. What about them? Don't you care how hurt they'll be if you wound up dead." She said angrily.

"I am thinking about them," He retorted. Carson vigorously shook he head, "No! No no no no. Christ, you sound just like Itachi. Always acting like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You don't own this trash city anything. For once just think about yourself. You've already given enough of yourself to this city. Please I just…I just don't want to lose anyone else."

Itachi felt how passionate she was about this. She really didn't want for him to die. Carson continued on as the building around them started to crumble, "I have this friend; his name is Itachi. He's special like you. Ever since I met him he's been helping me feel better about my life. I-I even started to develop feelings for him. On the night of my mother's funeral he decided he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. When I needed him the most…he abandoned me. He called me weak and said that he never wanted to see me again. I don't even know if he's even alive thanks to all of this chaos. I…I shouldn't have let him push me away. I should have fought harder for him, but I was so scared.

I was scared that he might have been right about me. But after all of the mess that I've been through, I know for a fact that he was wrong. I'm strong…strong enough to admit the truth about myself. I may be an ordinary girl, but that doesn't make me weak; it makes me human. I bet Itachi's been through so much that he barely considers himself human anymore. Even though I have no idea where he's at or if he's even thinking about me, I still just want to see him again. I'll never let him push me away again and I will fight to get his humanity back.

There's got to be someone who wants to see you one more time too and save you Crow. That's why I can't let you do something that we both know will get you killed. I want Itachi to be happy…and I want you to be happy to Crow."

Itachi was touched by her words, _'She really does care about me. And all I've done is push her away... I need to stop treating her like Sasuke and start treating her like Carson. But after all this, I don't think I know how. I've never had to deal with anything like this since Izumi. She loved me from the bottom of her heart and how did I repay her; by killing her. I swore on that day that I'd never let another woman take her place in my heart after that.'_

Carson watched as the Crow slowly began to remove his mask off, _'I may not be ready for or even want a relationship with Carson past being friends, but I know that I'm done pushing her away. She's earned a place in my heart separate from Izumi's. Carson's been nothing but good to me; a kindness that I don't deserve. Izumi always wanted me to be happy and find peace in my life. Being Sasuke's brother made me happy, but being Carson's friend gives me peace. I won't ever give that up again… I won't ever stop being her friend again.'_

She was shocked to see that it was indeed her friend Itachi under the mask. She sprinted to him and gave him the biggest hug ever. She had so many questions for him. Carson didn't know whether she should be happy to see him or mad that he hid all of this from her.

Itachi felt a new surge of power flow through him. It felt like all of the pain in his eyes vanished. Carson released him from the hug and stepped back. She had a million questions for him.

"I-I don't understand. Itachi…you're the Crow. You've been saving people all this time?" She asked. Itachi nodded back at her. Itachi wished he had time to explain but this building will come down any moment so they had to hurry.

"I'm sorry for the things I said back then… I was wrong. There is nothing weak about you," They both heard the impact of the plant attacking the building and saw debris start to fall, "We have to go now. I'll explain everything when all of this is done. Please, trust me." He pleaded. This time she nodded at him with tears in her eyes.

She hesitated for a while but eventually said, "I'll always trust you Itachi."

* * *

He lifted her up bridal style similar to when they first met and leapt out of the building. Itachi was able to slip past the vines since they were focused on the roof still and land where James, Carla, and Paula were at. James and Carla both ran to Carson to check on her.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

"Thank heavens that you're okay. You really worried me."

Carson smiled and assured them that she was indeed fine, "I'm alright, thanks to Itachi."

Carla looked and noticed that the Crow indeed didn't have his mask on. She recognized the young man as the same person who saved her café from that raid. She also recognized his name as the same person Carson has been infatuated with for so long and put it all together. She went and gave him a hug to and whisper thank you to him.

James didn't know how to feel. He hated Crow and everything that he stood for, but the man just saved his sister's life. Plus, to him it seemed like this wasn't Carson's first time meeting Crow without his mask based on how happy she seemed. It made him start to wonder whether or not she was hiding things from him. James, in the end, decided he'd deal with it later. His main priority was getting everyone to safety.

"We have to go. Those plants won't stay inactive for long," He declared. They others agreed with him and got ready to go. Carson ran to Itachi and hugged him one last time, "You better not die. You have to come back to me."

"I will…I promise." She nodded and ran to join her companions. Itachi watched as they crossed the building. He turned back to fight the three plants when the Venus flytrap came down on him. He turned around in time to be eaten by it.

Carson saw the whole thing and froze. She started crying before she shouted in disbelief. The one person she loved the most was dead and she just sat there and watched it. James, Carla, and Paula tried to get her to move but she was such a wreck it was no use. Soon the three plants surrounded them and ready to pounce.

' _This is it. This is how we die…as plant food. It can't end this way. Itachi…you can't be gone. You promised me that you'd come back to me so please…COME BACK!'_ Carson thought.

Just as the three plants pounced on them, the flytrap exploded into a million pieces. The two vines were next as a giant orange sword cut them to pieces. Carson, James, and Paula all looked up to see an orange gigantic, humanoid avatar. It was bigger than any of the plants and most of the buildings in the city. Its face was framed with locks of hair and had an appendage on its chin that is reminiscent of a pharaoh's false beard. As big as it already was, it kept growing as its legs started to form. It let out an animal like shriek once it stopped growing. In the middle of the humanoid was none other than Itachi, who was unharmed.

' _No more games. I made a promise and I intend on keeping. My Susanoo will make sure of that.'_ Itachi thought. This is the first time he's been able to form a full bodied Susanoo. He felt a surge of power flow through him like earlier as his chakra poured out of him. His Susanoo stretched out its hand to the others, signaling for them to get on.

Carson looked on and saw Itachi in the middle of it. Casting out all doubts, she decided to get on. James looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"W-We can't go on that-that thing! What are you doing?!" He shouted. Carson ignored him and motioned for everyone to follow her, "I'm trusting Itachi. I'll always trust him."

* * *

That's it for this chapter. Until next time guys and gals!


	15. New Team

The sound of loud tremors could be heard throughout Gotham City. Those tremors originated from none other than Itachi and his Susanoo. Itachi currently had James, Paula, Carla, and Carson with him. They were in the palm of his Susanoo's hand while he rode on its shoulder. Itachi had two goals in mind; get them out of danger and eliminate the plant threat in Gotham.

Carson and her companions looked on in awe of what they were riding. This was unlike anything they have ever seen or heard of before. They were on a gigantic, humanoid avatar of sorts and riding it as if it were a bike. They could feel every tremor from its footsteps as they progress out of the danger zone that was the Gotham Narrows. James looked up at the now unmasked vigilante and wanted to know what the next course of action was.

"…Itachi...you're taking us to a safe zone right?" Itachi kept his vision forward, but did give an answer by nodding.

"How do you plan on combating the plant threat," James found himself getting agitated by the lack of communication between himself and Itachi. Carson saw this and reassured him that he shouldn't take this personally, "He's just like that James. Itachi tends to let his actions answer for him."

"Yeah well his actions could determine the fate of our city and I'm not comfortable leaving it in the hands of a man who could just as easily level it to the ground if he wanted." James retorted bitterly.

"Itachi is a hero James. He's saved me and several others since getting here. Why don't you trust him?" Carson asked confusingly.

"You've only seen when he saves people. I've seen what happens when he hurts them. That doesn't look like a hero to me." James answered strongly.

Paula and Carla could feel the tension building between them and tried to placate the situation, "Let's just focus on getting to a safe zone. We don't need to argue after everything we've been through today," Paula said. Carla agreed though somewhere in the back of her mind she had the same trepidations as James did about Itachi. She decided to wait until they were finally safe to voice her concerns.

Itachi heard all of their discussion but decided to focus on getting them to safety. Saving them doesn't require that they trust or like him. He does it because it's the right thing to do and that's the only reason he ever needed. Itachi kept moving forward through the chaos.

There wasn't too much resistance for him. Anytime a plant arose he'd just cut it down with his Susanoo's blade. Most of the civilians in the city had already been evacuated to safe zones thanks to Gotham's finest and his shadow clones. Most of the plant threat had been eliminated, only the main plant located in Midtown Gotham remained. He'd go there right after dropping them off at this safe zone a few blocks down and then go join the Team to help defeat the Injustice League.

Moments later the group finally arrived to the safe zone. The civilians, paramedics, and assigned soldiers all looked on in fear and awe of what they were seeing. The soldiers started shooting at it, but their bullets had absolutely zero effect on the giant avatar. It wasn't until the soldiers heard shouting that the shooting stopped. They looked up and saw that there were people in of the giant's hands. Itachi's Susanoo dropped to a knee and lowered its hand to the ground so the people inside to depart safely.

The soldiers went and got them all one by one. Soon after Itachi saw that they were all on the ground, he exited his Susanoo to make sure they were all alright. He put his mask back on and departed while his Susanoo stayed in its position like it was a statue. Carson ran up to greet him while the others stayed behind.

"You're leaving to fight the plants aren't you?" She asked. Itachi nodded at her.

"How do you know whether or not you'll win? Black Mask is one thing, but shouldn't you leave this sort of thing to the Justice League?" She asked.

"The world needs the Justice League, but Gotham needs me. It's my home now."

"But you're just one man…with an orange giant behind you. How do you expect to win?"

"Back where I come from that is called Susanoo. Do you know what that means," He asked referencing behind him. Carson shook her head no in response, "It means 'He with the ability to help by all means'. It will protect me…no matter what."

He could see that the soldiers and civilians behind him were scared so he wanted to make this quick. He shook off cobwebs as his eyes started to throb behind his mask. Blood started falling to the ground as he felt his eyes start to change. James was watching the interaction through leered eyes.

"Itachi…your eyes!" Carson noted. Even though he had his mask on, she was still close enough to see that his eyes started to rotate. When they stopped his mangekyo sharingan was different from before. The three pronged pinwheels now had three small black dots between each of them and small circles inside each blade of the pinwheels. Itachi felt his eyes change and guessed that the Sage had implanted new eyes into him, but the question he wanted to know was whose eyes were these that he possessed.

He looked up and saw Ms. Yumi walking up to him. Carson backed away to give them their privacy. She gave him a hug and thanked the great Sage that he was alright. She saw that his eyes had changed and quietly whispered, "You have unlocked the eternal mangekyo sharingan. It must have required you reaching a certain emotional threshold in order to unlock it. Seeing your city die around you could have possibly done achieved it, or possibly the threat of losing a loved one. It doesn't matter either way at this point. Now you no longer have to fear losing your vision. You can protect your city…your loved ones more than ever before."

"But whose eyes are these?" He asked. She pulled a small mirror out of her small handbag and showed Itachi his reflection. His eyes widened when he recognized who these eyes belonged to.

"They belonged to my father, but how? I thought Danzo had all of the sharingan from the massacre stored away." Itachi surmised.

Ms. Yumi chuckled at her ward, "Do you really think the great Sage can't get something as small as a pair of eyes from a dead man. He obviously wanted you to have your father's eyes to help with your mission."

"He doesn't think I'm strong enough by myself?"

"It's not about one's own strength. You need the help of others to achieve your goal of saving the world, even if that help comes from the dead. You of all people should know that just because you're dead that doesn't mean you can't have a significant impact on living loved ones. Your father would want his for you…accept it." She wisely said.

He nodded at her and started to walk back to his Susanoo, _'That explains why I can form its full body now. I wonder what else I can do now…'_

Carson called out to him just as he was about to get on. He turned towards her direction as she gave him one last hug, "Please be safe. I know you can take care of yourself, but I'll always worry about you. Oh…if it's okay with you I'd like to talk to you when this is all over…in private. There are a few things I wanna ask you about before I can be sure of how we can move forward together, deal?"

Itachi nodded at her, "Deal."

He turned to get on his Susanoo when he heard Carson shout playfully, "Go kick that stupid plant's butt Crow! And you better not die you dork!"

Itachi shook his head at how embarrassing Carson could be but smirked inwardly at her. Once he was inside of his Susanoo, he floated to its center and began heading towards Midtown Gotham to end this siege on his city.

Caron looked on as the giant avatar walked away _, 'He with the ability to help by all means huh. That's a description more fit for you Itachi. Come back safe.'_

Carson then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Ms. Yumi beside her, "Come my child. There's no point in watching him leave. Let's head inside where it's safe." Carson reluctantly followed the old woman inside and rejoined her family. All she could do now was hope for the best and wait for his return.

* * *

It didn't take long for Itachi to make it to Midtown Gotham. In plain sight was the source of the siege of Gotham. Wrapped around Gotham Tower main building was the cobra-venom powered plant. It easily engulfed the tallest building in the entire city, which meant that it towered over Itachi's Susanoo too. Itachi eyed the plant monster as it wretched and wriggled its way around the building. It would be a sight to behold if not for the fact that it was destroying the entire city.

Itachi and his Susanoo were able to cut down any vines encountered along the way, but that meant little to nothing when compared to the behemoth that was ahead of him. It seemed to notice Itachi because all of a sudden it stopped wriggling around randomly and started sending some of its vines down towards him. Itachi summoned his Susanoo's curved sword and cut the vines down as they met him. He then floated towards his Susanoo's mouth and unleashed a giant fireball jutsu towards the plant which landed a direct hit.

He watched it seethe and screech in pain as the fire started to spread. Before the fire could completely overtake it though, the plant started to hack off its own vines for survival. Itachi used his Susanoo's blade to send a powerful shock wave towards the ailing plant and combined it with his amaterasu to send the black flames high enough to reach the plant. Once the black flames landed the effects were immediate. It engulfed the plants completely thanks to the shock wave boost and symbolized the end of this terror, or so Itachi thought.

Itachi watched as the plant hardened its bark until it was harder than steel and then shed it along with the black flames to come out unharmed. Itachi, on the other hand, not only had to maneuver about to avoid to black flamed bark falling out of the sky, but also had to stop it from reaching other buildings and possibly setting Gotham ablaze. He used his visual prowess to cut down each piece of bark that was in free fall by using his Susanoo's blade to create powerful shock waves.

Miraculously, he was able to destroy each of the bark pieces before they could land. Itachi was about to set his sights back on the plant, but got surprised when multiple vines sprouted from underground and ambushed him. Before he knew it, Itachi and his Susanoo were completely engulfed by the vines. To make matters worse the vines started to harden their bark and cut off his access to outside air. If he doesn't move fast and think of something, he'll suffocate.

' _I didn't know about its hardening and shedding abilities. If I had, there's no way I would have used amaterasu on it. I couldn't use the Yasaka Magatama because a powerful attack like that would destroy the building the plant has latched itself onto,'_ He then tried to cut his way out, but his Susanoo's blade couldn't make a dent. He didn't understand why because earlier his Susanoo had no problem cutting down the airborne bark pieces. In that instant he figured out why, _'That's because the bark was detached from the main plant. The instant that it got detached it lost its power source and became just a normal husk. This isn't good.'_

Things went from bad to worse when the vines started to use its pores to unleash that poisonous gas from earlier. His Susanoo only protected him from physical attacks so if he inhaled any of that gas into his lungs he'd definitely die. An added issued with the gas is that Itachi didn't know whether it was flammable or not so he couldn't use any fire based jutsu to escape at such a close proximity. Itachi was in quite the bind, _'I don't have too many options left. I'll have to use…that.'_

* * *

The Team were all currently riding in M'gann's ship and heading towards the Injustice League's lair. Inside the ship they were all pretty much silent because of how they were mentally preparing themselves for the battle they were about to partake in. Artemis had her mind on, in her humble opinion, her idiotic friend Itachi. She was still peeved at the fact that he went on a covert infiltration mission alone last night and didn't tell her.

' _What an idiot. I see why Carson gets so frustrated with him! It hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet and he's already off trying to play lone hero in Gotham…again! That being said I still hope he's okay. My mom and an entire city is depending on just one person…maybe I should have just left with him.'_ She contemplated.

Robin eyed that Artemis seemed to be in deep thought and decided to try and console her, "You're worried about Itachi, aren't you?"

"I'm worried about a lot of people, but to answer your question, yeah I am." She replied.

"Yeah, me too. How did you meet the guy anyways?" Robin asked.

"Through a friend," She answered simply. She thought back to first seeing him outside of Carson's door and never would she have thought that he was a vigilante that was beat the crap out of villains or a dude that would be taking on a steroid filled plant all by himself.

"Did he seem so broody back then too?" Wally asked.

"No, he actually was quite pleasant and polite. He's the total opposite of you. But it did help that he was pretty good to look at too." She added.

Robin and Wally groaned while M'gann chuckled to herself. She then decided to ask more about Itachi, "So what's he like when he doesn't have a mask on?"

"I wish I could say like any other hero but I'd be lying. Truth is I don't know anything about Itachi outside of him being pleasant and polite. He's not one to talk about his past, shoot he's not one to talk in general. My mom seems to like him a lot though."

"He's met your mom?" Wally asked. She nodded back at him like it was the most normal thing in the world. Robin, on the other hand, had serious concerns.

"That's not much to go on. You know him the best, but based on what you're saying you seem to know him just as much as I do…which is not at all," Artemis glared at him before asking where he was getting at, "I just can't believe that Batman would trust some outsider he doesn't know to handle his city alone like that. You don't find it strange? Trust isn't exactly what Batman is known for."

"You think Batman has an ulterior motive for letting Itachi go it alone?" Kaldur asked.

"Without a doubt. I just have a hard time trying to figure out what it is." Robin answered.

"But isn't he our friend? He's saved our lives enough times to earn our trust." Conner said coming to Itachi's defense.

"He is our friend. It's why I think we should know more about him beside the fact that he has good table manners." Robin answered in a placating way.

"I honestly don't care about his past. Right now, I care about Itachi fighting by himself…again. Once he's saved Gotham I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind." Artemis declared.

Kid Flash snickered and leaned in to joke with Miss Martian, "You don't have to be a mind reader to know what that'll look like."

"Oh shut it," Artemis replied. M'gann gave her friend with a curious look, "You don't think to ask Itachi about his past? Do you think he can save Gotham?"

"'I don't know would be my answer to your first question. Tell me M'gann, do you know about all of our pasts," The Martian shook her head, "If he opens up to us fine, but I won't press him for it because I respect his privacy, just like with all of you. And about him saving Gotham, well I've seen Itachi do some amazing things, but that doesn't mean he's a miracle worker. He has his limits…what concerns me is that he hasn't seemed to reach them yet." Artemis spoke in a serious tone.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Conner asked.

"Not necessarily," Robin answered. Wally gave him a confused look and asked him to explain, "All that means is that the day is going to come when he does reach his limit and depending on the situation, it could have terrifying ripple effects for all of those around him."

"That is especially true if we keep getting put in situations where we have to depend on his individual success as a component to our team victory." Kaldur added.

"So what is the solution to that problem then since I don't see Itachi ceasing in his dangerous mission intake any time soon," Wally asked. He then saw the duffel bag next to his leader and got curious, "And what's in the duffel?"

"Plan B." Kaldur answered. He was about to answer Wally's first question when M'gann started to groan about being dizzy. Robin showed his ignorance by commenting about Martians getting airsick and Wally didn't do much better when he commented on M'gann looking greener than usual.

M'gann quickly dispelled their worries by saying it wasn't her that felt sick, it was her bioship. It was trying to shield them but something was disrupting its efficiency.

Count Vertigo and Black Adam were outside waiting to ambush the Team right out of the air. Vertigo was using his powers to target the bioship and force it to uncloak itself. Once the plan worked and the bioship got exposed, Black Adam took flight to force it to make a crash landing. He flew towards it and punched it out of the sky with one hit, causing it to crash land in the nearby swamp.

Before anyone could react multiple vines emerged to the surface and started to pull the bioship down. M'gann grabbed her head in pain from the damage she felt being done to her ship by Black Adam. Everyone looked up to see that the supervillain make a hole in the ship to peek through. Conner quickly reacted by leaping upward and knocking Black Adam off of the ship.

The vines kept pulling the ship deeper into the swamp and water started pouring in through the hole.

"No. No way I'm nearly drowning three missions in a row." Artemis declared. She then got two re-breathers out and gave one to Wally who was nearby, "Wow. Uh, thanks."

"M'gann, we need to get out. Open a hatch." Conner said frantically. M'gann chided herself on how slow to the point she could be at times and did as Conner requested.

" **Out. Everyone out!"** Kaldur telepathically commanded. The entire Team plus Wolf swam out of the ship until they reached dry land. They made it just in time to see M'gann's ship be pulled under by the vines.

"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover." M'gann informed. Out of nowhere the Team collapsed in pain from an attack by Count Vertigo. Conner tried to stop him but got rocked by a powerful cross from Black Adam. Kaldur used that moment to use his water power to wash Vertigo away before he could resume his attack on them.

" **Robin, Miss Martian, disappear! We will keep them busy. You two fulfill the mission objective."** Miss Martian and Robin followed his ordered and went on ahead. The others stayed behind to continue the fight against Black Adam and Count Vertigo.

* * *

Back in Gotham, Itachi still had to deal with the situation he was currently stuck in. Being encased in a vine construct was not how Itachi thought his day would go and he had decided that enough was enough. He poured out an overflow of chakra into his Susanoo and caused it to change. The gigantic humanoid started form armor around it, causing it to start to resemble a yamabushi. When the transformation finished, Itachi's Susanoo went from orange to red and now resembled a long-nosed tengu and it wore a pair of magatama earrings.

Itachi then summoned one of the two trump cards that made his Susanoo virtually indestructible; the Totsuka Blade. He used his Totsuka Blade to pierce straight upward through the vines. Instantly afterwards, the vines started to be sucked into the snake jar his blade came out of.

He eyed the plant monster on Gotham Tower and got ready to end this. He flared his Totsuka Blade using his chakra until it was long enough to pierce the plant monster on top of the tower. He started to hack pieces of it off one by one. There was little to nothing that the plant could do about it. Once he was finished hacking off its vines, Itachi pierced its head and sucked it into his snake jar thus ending this siege finally.

He could see the people on the inside of the great tower start to head to the windows in relief of finally being able to see the outside again. They were all in awe of seeing Itachi's Susanoo down below. Itachi sheathed his Totsuka Blade and decided to inform Batman that the threat had been neutralized.

"Batman. This is Crow. I've neutralized the threat in Gotham." He spoke into his communicator.

"Good. The rest of the League is spread thin and are still combating the plant threat around the globe." Batman responded.

"Do you need me to provide assistance?"

"No. Stick to the plan. You are to reconvene with the Team and help them fight the Injustice League." He replied as he banked his Batwing to the left to avoid a swipe from the plant monster he and Zatara were fighting.

"Understood."

"I'm sending Superman over to take you to their location since he's about done in Metropolis."

"That won't be needed. I'll get there myself." Itachi responded as he started to flare his chakra.

"How? Without the ability of flight it's going to hard to get there in time."

"Who says I don't have the ability to fly?" Itachi responded.

"Very well," Batman answered while preparing to fire off some missiles. He didn't know that Crow could fly and would be sure to make note of that later in his mission's report, "I'll send their coordinates to your communicator and leave you to it then. Batman out."

Itachi was left alone to his own devices. As more and more chakra started pouring into his armored Susanoo it began to change. Its head let out a spark of red light as its entire body started growing at an exponential rate as scales started to cover its upper body. Wings started to develop for flight, the Susanoo gained a helmet that features a long tengu-like nose, and was now clad with robes and ornate armor. It has a mask on like how Itachi does except it is a quarter-mask that covered the left side of the Susanoo's face and its forehead, though both of its eyes remained visible. The mask also held the Susanoo's hair back in place. Just as with all of the Perfect Susanoo's, there was a transparent jewel in the center of its forehead that held Itachi in it. Once the transformation was complete Itachi's Perfect Susanoo easily towered of Gotham Tower, which was the tallest building in the city.

Itachi let out a breath of exhaustion before commanding his Susanoo to go airborne. Everyone in the city's mouth dropped as the colossus rose into the air. People from all over could see it, including Carson, James, Paula, and Carla whom all stared at it in a cross between fear and awe. Paula was the first one to notice something peculiar about it.

"I think that's the Crow's," She announced. Everyone looked at her odd until James reluctantly agreed, "It is the same color. It seems to have gotten bigger though."

"Yeah, a lot bigger." Carla added. They all looked on as the giant took to the skies at breakneck speed. They were all curious why Itachi left the city when the soldiers there started to announce that the plant threat had been neutralized and the city was safe again. Everyone cheered in joy of the great news. Carson silently thanked Itachi and hugged James. Ms. Yumi smiled at hearing that her ward had saved the city and was glad that he was safe.

Itachi knew he needed to reach the others fast so he didn't waste any time in pushing his Susanoo to the limit. He just hoped he wasn't too late to help them.

* * *

Hours had passed since the Team got split up. Robin and Miss Martian were in the dark of night as they were treading towards the Injustice League's base. Miss Martian was starting to become worried since she hasn't heard from any of their teammates in a while and voiced her concerns.

" **I've lost contact with Aqualad and the others. Should we-"** She was cut off by Robin.

" **Sorry, that's not the gig…this is,"** He pointed at their destination, **"The Injustice League central control system. Looks like that plant is acting as an antenna to control the other plants worldwide."**

"Well hello," They heard just as vines sprouted out of the ground and bound them up. They saw that Poison Ivy had discovered them, which meant that they were in deep trouble. The situation got worse as Ultra-Humanite joined Poison Ivy and had his gun aimed directly at them with the intent of firing, "And goodbye."

Miss Martian used her powers to manipulate Ultra-Humanite into firing at the vines and releasing them. Robin ran for cover as Poison Ivy was hot on his trails. He had to use his acrobatic maneuvering to avoid being caught by vines that were being controlled by Ivy. It proved to be difficult since they were in the middle of a swamp of all places. Miss Martian was busy being pursued and shot at by Ultra-Humanite.

Aqualad and the others were soundly defeated by Vertigo and Black Adam. They were being transported while high in the air thanks to Wotan's magic. He had them in a cage so strong that not even Conner could break them out of it with his super-strength. Aqualad wasn't ready to concede to them just yet.

"You are not the only one trained in the mystic arts, Wotan!" He tried to use his powers to bust open the cage, but only succeeded in tiring himself even more.

"Please, Atlantian, do not pretend you're in my league." Wotan said arrogantly as they continued their flight.

On the ground, Robin and Miss Martian were still fighting their opponents. Robin was trying his hardest to get close to Ivy, but her plants were so overwhelming that none of his attacks made any progress. He was knocked to the ground and about to be beaten when Miss Martian came to his rescue and destroyed the attacking vines. She also came bringing good news.

" **Robin, he's made contact."** She announced.

" **Aqualad?"** He asked.

" **No…Crow."**

They both looked up and saw their teammates being held captive in a mystic cage. Then they saw something that they would never forget. Itachi and his Perfect Susanoo descended from the skies above and made his presence known to the Injustice League. Count Vertigo was the first to sense it, but was too late to do anything about it as the mountain sized behemoth knocked Wotan out of the sky with a simple flick of its wrist.

The mystic cage evaporated and the Team fell into the water below them. Itachi deactivated his Susanoo and went to join the fight. Black Adam was prepared to strike him out of the sky, but Itachi's sharingan allowed him to contort his body and avoid the blow. Itachi then used Black Adam as a platform and kicked off of him to increase his descending speed.

"Why you-," He was shut up when a paper bomb that Itachi had placed on him went off and blew him out of the sky. He recovered in just enough time to save Count Vertigo from falling to his death, "Not me. Stop those delinquents!"

Conner was the first to recover and he did so just in time to come face-to-face with Ultra-Humanite.

"I hate monkeys," He said as he and Wolf both launched themselves at him. Aqualad and Artemis were next as they saw Poison Ivy with her vines ready to attack. They reached for their weapons, but found that they weren't there unfortunately, "Ahh! I feel naked and not in a fun way."

Ivy started to command her vines to attack the pair. To Ivy's dismay though, her plants were incinerated by fireballs rained down from above, "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The vines went up in flames as Itachi landed in between Aqualad and Artemis, "Good to see you Crow. I take it that was you who saved us from that cage."

Itachi answered Aqualad by nodding. Artemis had a million questions, but first she knew they had to defeat these villains first. Ivy was very angry and had grown three more vines to replace the ones she had just lost. Artemis smiled and looked at Itachi before asking, "Ready for some 3-on-1 action?"

Itachi answered by summoning three kunai knives. Aqualad took the lead, "Time we showed them what a real team looks like. Maneuver 7."

Artemis then ran towards Aqualad who scooped her up and threw her into the air. Poison Ivy had her vines rise up to knock the female archer out of the sky, but was surprised when she saw Crow throw his kunai at each of the vines. Itachi had paper bombs on each of the knives so when they hit their targets they each exploded and destroyed the vines. Ivy was so busy leering at Crow that she had forgotten that Artemis was still in the air. She was kicked off of her plant pedestal and sent hurdling into the water below.

Kid Flash had Count Vertigo in his sights and sprinted towards him. He was stopped when Vertigo used his power to distort Wally's senses and eventually was knocked away by Black Adam. Vertigo was still angry about their plan falling apart seeing that he did not predict the Crow of all people being here. He still didn't know where Robin and Miss Martian had gone off to.

Conner and Wolf were starting to lose to Ultra-Humanite when Itachi came over and gave them an assist, "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"

He blasted the gorilla into a bunch of trees with that technique. Itachi saw Artemis be struck by one of Ivy's vines and was about to retaliate when he stopped because Miss Martian was contacting him telepathically.

" **Crow, help us destroy this plant on top of their headquarters. It controls the cobra-venom plants around the world."**

He was about to help them when Black Adam flew over to him to try to sneak attack him. Itachi was too fast though and dodged every attack. He used his visual prowess to read and counter every move Black Adam made. In between Black Adam's punches Itachi would weave the hand signs needed to burn that last plant to the ground. He ducked a sweeping right hook and weaved the sign for Boar, he parried his head away from a left uppercut and weaved the Horse sign, and finally Itachi caught his straight right cross and used their combined hands to weave the Tiger sign. Itachi then delivered a powerful spinning hook kick that landed so cleanly that Black Adam was immersed head-first under the water, thus giving Itachi the clean look he needed at the plant as his foot held Black Adam's head underwater.

He saw that Robin had placed explosives all over the plant, so one good fire attack on top of the explosion would burn it away for sure. Ivy turned in time to see the explosive batarangs just before they went off, "My baby."

"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi fired off a gigantic fireball towards the plant. That, with Robin's explosives, completely obliterated the plant. Standing on top of the base where the central plant once stood were Robin and Miss Martian, whom both had a look of accomplishment.

Ivy was now furious and aimed her ire at the pair standing on the base. Miss Martian deflected the attack, only to be struck from behind by Atomic Skull and the Joker. Joker had a sadistic smile on his face as he looked at the scene before him.

"Children…children foiled our plan," Atomic Skull started to blast after Robin as Joker continued on, "Inconceivable! Unacceptable! Retributionable! Okay, that last one might not be a word. Sue me."

"It's not," Joker looked up to see Crow kick off of the base and towards the others. Joker recovered and started laughing uncontrollably, "Hahahaha! So you're the Batfreak knockoff I've heard so much about. I saw you in all of your glory when you were carving up Ivy's plant monster in Gotham. You're alright I guess. Tell me, do you have a thing against killing like how pointy eared freak does?"

"You tell me," Joker turned around in time to see a second Crow. He did a double take and laughed again, "I must have hit too much of my good stuff again. Boy I'll tell ya-"

He stopped when saw a kunai knife go through his abdomen. He started laughing as hard as he ever had before coughing up blood. He looked around to see that everyone around him had disappeared and only he and Crow were left. Well, he and about 100 Crows were left. Also the sky was blood red for some reason.

"I pegged you wrong. I thought you were another Boy Blunder, but boy was I WRONG! Do it again! Do it again!" He shouted manically. Itachi obliged and had all his clones stab Joker one by one as time seemed to stop. When they were all done, only a second had passed in real time, but a year had passed in Itachi's genjutsu. And yet Joker still laughed.

Itachi looked at him perplexed when Joker regarded him, "What? Surprised your crazy juice doesn't work on me. Shocked to see me still laughing and unbroken. Newsflash dummy! You can't break something that's already broken. Hahahaha! You're just like Bats after all, can't get the job done. Sheesh, that loony Scarecrow is scarier than y-"

Itachi silenced him by having his mouth close shut. Itachi decided to kick up the intensity since Joker obviously had a high tolerance to this madness, "I usually pound my victims till they break, but with you I'll make an exception. I'll just stretch you out till you snap."

Joker tried to talk, but his closed mouth made that impossible. He couldn't made a sound…he couldn't even scream when the torture began and reality itself seemed to bombard him with pain.

In the real world only about five seconds had passed. It seemed like Itachi and Joker both were just staring at each other to the normal person, but Joker was experiencing his own special kind of hell in the Tsukuyomi. Joker fell down to the ground and looked visibly shaken by the hell he'd just gone through. Itachi knew the madman was defeated and left to assist his friends.

* * *

"Kill them! Kill them all!" Vertigo ordered. The Injustice League got serious with their attacks and one by one each member of the Team started to get overwhelmed. Itachi could handle himself, but the others were just overmatched by the combined might of these villains. And soon the villain all began to combine their attacks against Itachi.

Itachi was beginning to run low on chakra and would soon need to rest his eyes. A prolonged fight against this many people wouldn't end well for him. Aqualad saw the writing on the wall and knew that he'd have to go to drastic measures.

"Plan B." He told to Miss Martian. She sent a command to her ship, that was now free since the central plant was destroyed, and had it drop the duffel bag Aqualad brought with him. Itachi eyed it and felt a strange aura emanating from it. He was about to use his Susanoo to end this fight, but stopped when Aqualad took out some gold helmet that was in it and was about to put it on.

Wotan immediately recognized what that powerful item was, "The Helmet of Fate."

Kid Flash heard this and turned towards his leader in panic, "No! Aqualad don't," Black Adam used the distraction to sucker punch him, who in turn then got sucker punched by Superboy. In all of the chaos Aqualad put on the helmet and had become Doctor Fate. Kid Flash looked on in dread, "Oh dude."

Fate ascended into the air and confronted Wotan, "You are mine." They both had a clash in magic, but Fate ultimately won and bound Wotan up in chains. Wotan didn't give up though and broke the chains in preparation for a counterattack. They then began to resume fighting in a dual of magic.

Miss Martian was evading Ivy's vines while invisible. They were so ferocious that defense was all she could hope for. Ivy evilly grinned as she continued her hunt, "I may not see you Martian, but perhaps I'll hear you scream."

"And perhaps I can be of assistance." Vertigo said as he used his powers to temporarily incapacitate M'gann. They were stopped by a flash of light caused by a flashbang Robin had thrown. Kid Flash ran and tore at Vertigo's cape to distract him so he wouldn't see Artemis and Itachi team up to deliver kicks that sent Vertigo flying right into Ivy, and thus knocking them both to the ground.

Artemis ran towards Kid Flash and took the part of Vertigo's cape that he ripped, "Hey that's my souvenir."

"Hold still," She then wrapped it around his arm for support. After she was done Wolf was thrown right into her by Ultra-Humanite. Wally would have been hit next but Itachi came to his rescue and diverted the blow.

"Thanks man." Wally said as he ran away. Itachi shook his head as he got knocked back by the gorilla, _'You and Artemis are made for each other. You both don't pay attention.'_

In the sky, Doctor Fate and Wotan were both still waging battle, "Surrender sorcerer. You cannot hope to defeat a Lord of Order."

"I can defeat you and I will," Wotan began to fire up another spell but was blasted away.

" Ekirts Natow nwod," The spell came from Zatara, who was accompanied by the rest of the Justice League. That was what turned the tide of this fight. All of the Injustice League were cornered and defeated. It was crystallized when Itachi threw stupefied Joker in the middle of the pile of villain. Batman stepped up and in his famous monotone voice said, "It's over."

The rest of the villains knew they had been defeated and raised their arms in surrender. Vertigo still remained defiant, "There will be another day."

Joker all of a sudden broke out of his stupor and pointed at Itachi, "Another day…Another day?! As long as he is here there won't be another day! Not for any of us! Hahahaha!"

He then summoned the remains of the cobra-venom plant and released all pf the Joker-Venom spores inside of it. "Joker-Venom spores! Don't breathe!"

Batman punched Joker to the ground to stop more spore from being released while Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan once more and prepared to stop the gas, "Amaterasu!"

The gas could be seen clear as day by Itachi as he burned each and every spore down with the black fire. The heroes looked on as the gas soon turned black as ash. Each flame kept burning until it ate up each individual spore that was targeted. Coincidentally, Doctor Fate absorbed both the spores and the flames using his magic just as added insurance, "Fate has intervened."

Itachi was just glad that this was finally over. Joker started laughing before regarding Batman, "I think I'm done with you Bats. It's been fun," He then turned towards Itachi and gave the most ominous grin in human history, "But I just found my true soulmate."

Itachi glared at the madman from behind his mask. 'How did he recover so fast from Tsukuyomi? His mind should be turned to mud. Who is this madman and why is he now fixated on me?'

"I'll definitely be seeing you around more…Crow. Hahahahahahaha!"

* * *

Wally was furious at the others for allowing Aqualad to put on the helmet, "What were you all thinking?! How could you let him put on the helmet? Nabu will never release him now. Kaldur will be trapped inside of Doctor Fate forever."

He let the sadness in his voice be heard by everyone. Itachi didn't agree with that at all and decided to intervene one last time. He activated his mangekyo sharingan and used Tsukuyomi.

He and Doctor Fate were transported to Itachi's genjutsu world. They weren't alone either. Both Aqualad and Kent were there with them.

"What is the meaning of this? What sorcery have you incurred? I am a-" Itachi bound him up to a post and silenced his mouth just like he did with Joker, "You talk too much."

Kent and Aqualad looked on in shock. Kent wound up laughing before addressing the Uchiha vigilante, "That is the first time I've ever seen Fate put in his place. What's your name, son?"

"Crow," Kent just shook his head, "Really, your mother named you Crow? That sucks."

Itachi sighed at the old man, "My name is Itachi."

"Well Itachi, what brings you here?" Itachi pointed his finger towards the now irate sorcerer, "I need him to release my friend. Can you help me?"

"I'll talk to him, though you embarrassing him like that didn't put you in the best light." He responded.

"It's not about me…it about Kaldur. He's…he's my friend. And a lot of other people's friend." He answered.

"Very well. Do me a favor and release him so that we can talk." Itachi did as was requested of him and Doctor Fate was released from his binds. He glared at Itachi, but eventually went with Kent to talk.

Aqualad looked around in awe, "Where are we?"

"We're in something called a genjutsu. It's basically a world of distorted reality. Think illusions except with chakra instead of magic." He answered.

"What's chakra," He asked. Itachi looked on as Fate and Kent returned from talking, "We'll have plenty of time to discuss it later with the rest of the Team."

How Itachi worded it didn't escape Kaldur, "Does that mean that you'll join our team?"

"…yes. I'll join the Team." Itachi said as he took off his mask.

Aqualad was ecstatic, but still curious as to what changed Itachi's mind, "Why though? I thought you didn't feel comfortable working with a team."

"And I still don't…but I do feel comfortable working with my friends. You and the others…you are my friends. That's why."  
Aqualad smiled and extended his hand. Itachi shook it this time around with no hesitation as the two warriors had just become teammates. They then turned their focus to the issue at hand; getting Aqualad his freedom.

"I talked to Nabu and…he's agreed to release your friend," Aqualad smiled but Itachi knew something else was up, "But…because of the…uh…'disrespect shown to a Lord of Order' if someone else puts on the Helmet of Fate, it stays on. No more exceptions, no more freebies. Understand?"

"Yes," They both answered. Kent looked at his companion who in turn looked at Itachi. Aqualad looked confused when Kent verbalized his thoughts, "You're friend put us in this world, we're just waiting for him to take us out."

"One last thing before I release this jutsu. Do you know of a great threat that has infiltrated Earth?" Itachi asked. Aqualad looked really confused but Itachi assured him not to worry.

"Yes, I've felt it for a while now. In the highest heavens and in the deepest hells. It's getting stronger, day by day. Soon, not even I will be able to stop it." Nabu answered.

"Do you know the identity of this threat?" He asked.

"I do not." Nabu answered. Itachi sighed in disappointment, "Very well." He then needed the Tsukuyomi and released everyone inside. Kent made sure that one of them told his friend Wally hello.

Fate and Kent looked on as they were soon left all alone, "You sense it, don't you?"

"He is the child sent from God." Fate answered.

"The day of golden light is coming isn't it?" Kent asked.

"It is," Kent sighed and shook his head. He has dreaded this for decades, "Do we stand a chance?"

"No, only the child does. But he is not yet ready. Until he is…we are doomed."

"Looks like you're needed after all." Kent noted.

"I will be there." Fate said resolutely before the scene turned to darkness.

* * *

Back in reality, everyone looked on as Wally vented when out of nowhere Fate removed his helmet and set Aqualad free.

"Nabu let you go?" He asked.

"He almost did not. But Itachi and your friend Kent were most helpful. He says 'hello'." He answered.

Kid Flash turned to thank Itachi only to see him drop to a knee. He sprinted to him to check on him as the others joined.

"Itachi, are you alright?" Wally asked.

"I'm fine…just exhausted…I need to rest my eyes." Itachi responded. Artemis ran over next and gave him the stare of death.

"We. Will. Talk. Later," She said as emphatically as she could while poking her finger at Itachi's chest. She soon softened her stance and became her friendlier self, "I take it you saved Gotham…and you know who?"

"They're all safe. Gotham is safe." He responded. She hugged her friend and thanked him. Aqualad motioned for everyone pay attention as he had something to say.

"This is not the worst of the threat. A far greater one could still be on the horizon. I may not know the identity of this threat or if it even exists, but this Team will stay vigilant and be ready stop it should the occasion call for it. All of us…me, Superboy, Artemis, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Robin, and Crow."

Robin picked up on that last named he listed and smiled with anticipation, "And Crow?"

They all looked at Itachi for confirmation. He nodded his head and repeated what Aqualad had said, "And Crow."

"Yeah! And Crow!" They were about to celebrate when Batman coughed. They turned to see the adult all looking at them like they each had two heads, "We'll decide whether or not Crow will join the Team."

Everyone dropped their heads in disappointment. Itachi looked on and waited for their answer, "Crow after everything I've seen of you…you're on the Team. Training starts at 0800 hours…don't be late. We're done here. The supervillains' secret society has been neutralized. As for your performance…"

The Team waited for his delayed answer, "…it was satisfactory. That includes you now Crow. It's time to become something greater than just a vigilante. "

The Team held their heads up high being proud of themselves. The adults left and the Team were heading towards the bioship to drop Itachi off at Gotham and head back to the cave. Artemis pulled Itachi to the side to congratulate him.

"You finally wised up and joined our Team. Took you long enough. And it already looks like the big Bat trusts you. Who knows, at your rate you might make the League in no time."

Itachi gave her a stoic look, "That was an act. Batman doesn't trust me…and I don't trust him."

Artemis couldn't believe her ears, "If he didn't trust you why would he send you on covert missions, or leave you to save Gotham alone, or even let you join our Team?!"

"In short, to keep an eye on me. He reduces the risk of me being wildcard if I'm in an controlled and confined setting like your Team. He's studying me, as I am him." He answered.

"Okay, you're starting to lose me. You're no wildcard. You want to help people. And I don't know if anyone told you, but Batman doesn't handle our day-to-day routines. Whoever is our den-mother at the time will decide that. So how can you study him?" she asked.

"Robin. He is Batman's apprentice. He lives and displays Batman's very discipline and will. I'll study Batman through Robin." He said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Why don't you trust Batman?"

"Why don't you trust the others enough to tell them the truth about you not being Green Arrow's niece? Why not tell them that you're Sportmaster's daughter?" Itachi asked this time.

"Because I don't know how Wa-they will react." She said sadly. Itachi looked at her with sympathy.

"That's why I'm studying him. I need to know what makes Batman react and how. This is bigger than any of us. I can't afford to be too trusting of anyone. Too much is at stake here." He said.

"What happens if you find that you can't trust him? Will you leave the Team?" She asked.

"…I can't say. Even if I do stop being part of the Team, I will never stop being your friend." He stated.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because unlike Batman I actually trust you, Artemis," He said with a smile. She nodded her head and returned the smile, "I guess that's good enough for now. So we are you heading back to Gotham. Don't you want to celebrate our win with the Team?"

"I have another pressing matter to attend to. You know who I'm talking about."

"Carson, right?"

"Yes."

"Good luck with that. On that front there will be no Team. You, sir, are on your own since you created that mess." She joked.

"I know…" he sighed as they got on the ship and headed towards what would undoubtedly be his toughest fight yet. He then decided to alleviate the somber tone, "So how does one feel naked in a fun way?"

Artemis gasped and immediately felt her face turn red, "You heard that?"

He nodded at her. She could already tell there was going to be an adjustment period with Itachi here now.

* * *

A man watched the monitor screens in front of him with satisfaction.

"We have gained most valuable knowledge thanks to the plant attacks across the world. And more importantly, the so-called heroes now believe our secret society has been revealed and crushed. With the Injustice League serving as our proxies we are once again free to operate with impunity."

The man revealed himself to be Vandal Savage. His cohorts joined him in basking in their genius. The monitors all showed Itachi as he was fighting the plants and the Injustice League. The final member emerged from the darkness with a hood and mask on before finishing Savage's soliloquy, "Blood and shadows still conceal our Light. Our Golden Light."

The hooded figure then showed the vial containing someone's blood to the others. After twisting it around a label could be seen on the vial with someone's name on it. The label read, "Crow."

"Time to put the plan in motion."

* * *

That was a long one. Please forgive any grammatical errors that you may see. The next chapter or so won't have as much action, but it will definitely continue the stories plot significantly. I hope you all enjoy my vision. Thanks again and don't forget right a review because I love reading them all. Have a great one and until next time!


	16. Trial and Error

The Team was currently flying towards Gotham. Itachi requested that he be dropped off so he could check on his city. With him joining the Team, Itachi figured that he wouldn't be able to spend as much time in Gotham as he would like. He needed to acclimate himself with his new teammates, which would only happen with time and chemistry built.

"So will you be staying at the Cave, or will you remain in Gotham?" Kaldur asked. Itachi would have said yes, but he still didn't like the idea of leaving Gotham completely. The criminals still needed to be reminded of the consequences of their actions by the Crow every once in a while. Itachi turned towards his new team leader, "Sorry, but for now I'll stay in Gotham."

"I understand. You should be sure to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is training day. We will mostly go over team schemes and review our individual hand-to-hand combat skills. We will also be getting a new den mother." Itachi nodded at him in response.

"So how do your powers work? How'd you get them?" Robin asked. Everyone listened intently for Itachi's answer. Ever since meeting Itachi and seeing him in action for the first time, everyone has made their own speculations into Itachi's origin. The guess ranged from an accident that gave him powers to being trained by a legion of supernatural crows. It was safe to say that it was a topic of great interest to them.

"Chakra is the source of my power. I trained to control it since I was young. That's basically it." Itachi stated. He didn't want to get into his past and why he needed to be so good at such a young age.

"What's with the gang signs you throw up whenever you shoot fire or water?" Wally asked ignorantly. Artemis looked at him as if he were the dumbest thing breathing right now for that silly question. She shook her head, "Really? Gang signs are the best you could call them?"

"What? Where I come from, what he does is called throwing up gang signs." He said trying to defend himself.

"It's alright. It is called weaving hand signs. It's how I'm able to manipulate my chakra in order to perform jutsu. There are twelve basic hand signs; Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar. The amount of hand signs required to use a particular jutsu depends on the skill level of the jutsu's caster and the type of jutsu desired. Some require just one hand sign, but others require as many as forty-four hand signs."

"That seems like it could get redundant at some point. What's chakra and jutsu?" Robin asked. Itachi turned to look out of the window as they just entered Gotham City, "Complicated. It would take years for me to explain it to you."

The bioship hovered right above the safe zone Carson and the others were located at. Itachi was about to leave when Artemis called out to him, "Thanks again for coming when you did. Gotham isn't the only one who owes you."

Itachi got the coded message in her words and nodded at her. He sealed his Crow mask up and told them goodbye before leaving the ship. Artemis looked down out of the window and saw him mouthing words to her. She nodded back him to let him know that she understood. Itachi had mouthed to her that if she needed a place to stay, that she could contact him.

He watched as the bioship went back into stealth mode and flew away. Itachi then prepared himself for the uncomfortable conversation that was about to ensue.

The Team was flying back to the Cave to get changed and head to sleep. Wally had a lot of energy for an injured arm though, "Well tomorrow we get to break in the new guy."

"We? You're injured remember." Artemis corrected. Wally looked around as the others nodded in agreement. He was about to protest, but Kaldur stopped him before he could get a word out, "This is not up for negotiation. Until your arm is healed, you are off active duty."

"That sucks." Wally protested as the others laughed in stride. Conner was petting Wolf when a thought came to his head, "I wonder who our den mother will be?"

"Whoever it is, they'll be there specifically to determine Itachi's skill level and his compatibility with the rest of us." Robin guessed.

"I agree. Hopefully this training session will result in a positive growth for all of us." M'gann added.

"As long as we work as a team we'll succeed. Now let's go home." Aqualad announced with the agreement of the others.

* * *

Itachi stood in front of the safe zone as his teammates flew away. He noticed how quiet the city was despite all of the destruction it had just suffered and smiled. Not since waking up in this city has he felt it be this quiet. Itachi hoped this could be the beginning of something permanent for Gotham.

He headed inside of the tent to find Carson. Most of the inhabitants inside were asleep because of how late into the night it was. He did notice the few people who were awake. Three of them were soldiers who still had to stand watch for the night, another was Ms. Yumi who noticed Itachi immediately and started to make her way towards him, and the last was James who had a scowl on his face the instant Itachi walked in. The soldiers were about to confront Itachi, but James talked to them and seemed to dissuade them. James gave one last glare before he took his phone out and walked out back with a mumbled grunt.

Ms. Yumi gave Itachi a sweet hug upon reaching him which made the former shinobi turned vigilante uncomfortable. It wasn't that the elderly woman made him uncomfortable, or even the act of being hugged. It was the fact that this woman was so similar to his mother. It may have literally been a lifetime ago, but Itachi could still remember being hugged by his mother Mikoto. Being with Ms. Yumi brings back those memories of his mother that he thought were locked away, and that is why he gets so uncomfortable.

The old woman broke the hug and caressed Itachi's face, "I'm so glad that you're okay my child. Not only have you come back, but I sense a feeling of hope around you."

"I've decided to join the other heroes," He said in reply. Yumi smiled at him and voiced her approval, "I am so happy for you. What changed your mind?"

"I think we're fighting the same enemy. I once told someone that no matter how strong they grew, they should never seek to bear everything alone. The only result in that would be failure. If I am to stop this great threat, I realized that I will need a great team behind me." He answered.

"Do they know about you? Why you're here and what you've done?" She asked.

"No, they don't. I don't think telling them about my past is for the best. They're children at the end of the day. They wouldn't understand why I had to do what I did." He replied.

"Aren't they your friends? You don't think they would try to understand?" She asked curiously.

"No, they've been raised to believe that being a hero means that no situation should require killing in order to be resolved. This world is different from ours." He answered. In truth, Itachi wished he and Sasuke could have been born here. They could have led normal, ordinary lives here with their mother and father.

"I've been in this world far longer than you have my child. This world is no different from ours; it's just as cruel." She stated softly. She's been on this Earth long enough to witness it as its lowest moments.

"What makes you say that?" Itachi asked. He was reminded of when Carson also described it as cruel here.

"People. People inhabit this Earth just the same as our Earth. As long as that is true, evil can't be avoided. It could be staring right in front of you and you not even realize it. I've seen it happen before." She said sadly.

"I guess you're right. That evil is why we were both sent here." Itachi admitted. _'Carson gave that exact same reason too.'_ He thought.

"You were sent here for that evil, but I was sent here for you Itachi. To watch over and guide you until you were ready to face the real enemy. Do you think you're ready to confront a threat that not even the Sage of Six Paths could? This team of heroes doesn't have any experience of fighting people from our world." She warned.

"It doesn't matter how strong an opponent is, they'll always have a weakness. And I'll get them ready for when the time comes." He answered.

"But who will get you ready?" She asked.

"You never have to get ready if you always stay ready. The Sage sent you here to make sure I always stayed ready for any threat the enemy threw my way. You'll do it, I have as much faith in you as you do in me," He answered with a smile. She smiled back at him. His words of kindness and support meant the world to her. He looked around and noticed something was off in the tent, "Where is Paula?"

"Oh, she's not here. Sometime after you left, I saw her leaving with someone. Carson and James protested, but Paula reassured them that it was alright. I couldn't see the face of the person she left with, but based on how they were reacting they seemed to know each other fairly well." She surmised.

"I see. Did she say where they were going?" He asked. She shook her head sadly at him. She then point over towards the left side of the tent, "Carson is asleep over there. She said she wanted to wait for you, but I was able to charm her into getting some much needed rest. Her companion Carla is with her. I tried to get her brother to rest as well, but he respectfully declined and said he wanted to watch over his sister. Such a kind young man."

"Why aren't you asleep? A woman your age needs rest as well." She laughed at her ward's question. She plucked a strand of her black hair and examined it, "I'll try not to be offended by that. You are just like your ancestor. Indra always seemed to offend people, even when he only meant to show his concern. It was always up to Asura to smooth things over when that happened. Just because I wasn't a shinobi, doesn't mean that I can't tough it out like you young ones can."

"You don't speak about your past too often." Itachi noted.

"There is not much to talk about. Once I received my mission everything changed." She replied.

"Why did they choose you even though you aren't a shinobi? Surely someone else could have been chosen and allowed you to live an ordinary life."

"The answer to that is quite simple. My will is so great that time has little to no effect on me. Everybody else wanted to be the shiniest of tools, but I knew that in order to truly fulfill this mission I would have to be like tempered steel; I'd have to be in it for the long haul. Shinobi tend to expire quickly as you know from firsthand experience. My family ties still live on even to this day. You and I are examples of the wills of the past, present, and future all colliding. At the end of the day we will never forget where home is and the loved ones we sacrifice our lives for. You were also recognized for that same will that compelled you to live your life being the ultimate sacrifice. Why did you do it?" She asked.

"Because I love Sasuke," He answered. She nodded at her ward, "You just answered your own question. Love, love is why I was chosen. The man who was chosen to inherit the will of God himself, passed that very same will to me. It was his will that the world be saved by love deep enough to create peace. It is a will that you too have inherited despite all odds, the Will of Fire."

"You're doing this for Asura…" Itachi realized. Yumi gave a teary eyed smile to him, "No, I'm doing it for my husband and my son. When grandfather first came to me, I was just 19 years old. I had just gotten married and given birth to my son. I was warned of a threat that would destroy the world as I knew it and that the only way to stop it was for me to sacrifice everything. I shed tears of blood that very day it was so painful. I remember the pain as if it were yesterday when I gave up my husband, my son, and entire family to leave my home and come to this Earth and wait for you. Like you, I was maligned, ostracized, and viewed as the worst type of scum for abandoning them."

Itachi was silent. She'd never told him about any of this before. She continued on, "They probably thought I abandoned them because I was so young at the time and wasn't ready to raise a family. No one was told about why I really left, it was my last request to my grandfather. I didn't want them up at night waiting for me to come back when I knew this was a one-way trip. I wanted them to move on and live their lives without me. At that point in time, it was bigger than me and my family. My grandfather had a vision of the world being set on fire and that the only thing that could stop it was you. Helping you…is like helping my husband and son. The mission has always been to protect our families; it's why you are not alone. You haven't ever been alone my child. For years I have been right here waiting for you, and now that you are here we can finally move towards saving our families together. That's why I chose this. I love my family enough to that I left them to help you save them. That love has connected you and me since the day you were born."

At that moment, Itachi felt the Will of Fire within him grow stronger. Itachi was grateful that Ms. Yumi shared her story with him and felt that it drew him closer to her. It was probably her way of letting Itachi know that telling his story to her would only draw her closer to him, not reject him. He turned towards Carson direction with new conviction, "I'm going to speak with Carson now. I want her to see the Will of Fire within us."

"Good luck…my child." Yumi said before hugging him one last time before he left.

* * *

Itachi knelt down by Carson's sleeping form and gently shook her. After stirring for a moment, Carson woke up to see Itachi next to her. She shot up and gave him a hug, "I'm so glad that you're back. After you left the city we all got worried…"

"It's okay. I only woke you so that we could have that talk. I have to be somewhere in the morning so now is probably the best time, but I'll understand if you'd rather sleep…" He whispered.

"No, it's alright. I'm not one to beat around the bush anyways." She said sheepishly.

"Then come on, we're leaving now." Itachi stated.

He and Carson left out of the tent. On the way out Carson asked Itachi where her brother was, but Itachi didn't know. She figured that James wouldn't have gone far and decided that she'd just find him later. Itachi lifted her up in his arms and leapt away. Carson hugged on tight even though she knew he wouldn't drop her. Being this high up in the sky would never be something she would grow accustomed to.

"So where are we going?" She asked.

"To where this all began," He answered. Carson gave him a look of confusion, "You're taking me to some stinky back ally?!"

Itachi shook his head as he continued on. It didn't take long for them to reach the real destination; the Wayne Botanical Gardens. When the landed Carson knew right away what he meant when he said where it all began, _'This is when the distance between us grew. We're only a few feet from each other, but I feel like we're worlds apart.'_

Itachi walked towards the deck of the pond and sat down. Carson went and joined him while showing how nervous she was. Itachi saw this and attempted to calm her down, "Relax, we're just talking."

"I don't understand how you can be so calm about this." She replied.

"Because we're just talking. Now talk." He said. Carson didn't know how she wanted to start this. After staying silent for a while, she started by asking him a question, "How do you feel about me? Be honest."

"…I consider you precious. That's how I honestly feel." He admitted after a long pause. Carson couldn't begin to express how happy it made her hearing that.

"I consider you precious too. Itachi…I like you a lot. Ever since we met, I've felt drawn to you for some reason. It must be your charismatic personality." She couldn't tell how well this was going.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Itachi asked.

"No, I have more. I really want to get to know you better. In order for anything to develop between us, I feel like I need to know more about you Itachi. Like how you got your powers." She answered.

"I was born with them. Where I come from, I was considered a genius. I trained every day to hone my powers so that I could protect the people that I cared about." He answered.

"On the topic of where you come from, where is that exactly? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're not from here based on how lost you looked when I first found you." She noted.

"I'm from the Hidden Leaf Village." He replied.

"The hidden what? What country is that in because I've never heard of that being here in America?" she asked.

"The Land of Fire." He replied. Carson gave him an extremely worried look, "Land of Fire? Please don't tell me you're from Hell."

"It feels like that sometimes, but no." Carson sighed in relief. Her panic was starting to go away. But then Itachi followed that with, "But I'm not from this Earth though."

And just like that, her panic skyrocketed. Carson didn't know how to respond to that statement. She tried her best though, "What do you exactly mean when you say you're not from this Earth?"

"That I'm not from this Earth. I was sent here after I…after I helped someone close to me. I was sent here afterwards to help someone else out who is close to me." He explained in a vague way.

"Okay...So who sent you here?" She hesitantly asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Itachi said.

"I mean you shoot fireballs out of your mouth and you apparently are from a different planet so try me." She retorted.

"God sent me." Itachi said. And just like that, Carson wanted to shout in frustration. She sighed before recounting everything, "Okay so you are some fireball shooting superhero, from a town of trees, on a different planet, and sent by God. This is a thing now."

"You see why I preferred this conversation didn't happen." Itachi insisted. He only obliged to it because of how much Carson expressed that she wanted to have it.

"I'll take you at your word next time. So on this mystical planet full of trees, did you have a girlfriend?" She asked trying to be sly but failed miserably.

"How is that relevant to what's happening now?" Itachi asked.

"Hey, I wanna know. So did you?" Itachi sighed at her. His life is not meant to be an open book. He nodded his head, "Yes, I had a lover. Her name was Izumi, but it was a lifetime ago."

Carson had to keep down a wave of jealously when he used the term 'lover'. She also sensed the sadness in his voice, "So I take it you two had a bad breakup. Is that why you seem scared of commitment or relationships?"

Itachi stayed silent. Carson could feel his demeanor change starkly. Itachi spoke again after what seemed like a lifetime, "We never broke up…"

Carson was beginning to get even more confused. She then got scared by what his answer could mean, "So if you and her never broke up, does that mean she's waiting for you back where you come from?"

"No, she's already moved on." Itachi answered solemnly. Carson had lost track of this train a few stops ago, "Okay, so you and Izumi aren't broken up, but she's moved on already? Please help me connect the dots."

"She's dead. She died a long time ago." Itachi revealed. Carson gasped in surprise. It made sense to her why he was acting this way about that subject, "I-I'm sorry to hear that. How did she die if you don't mind me asking?"

"I killed her." Itachi said numbly. Carson felt her heart skip a beat. She really didn't like where this conversation had gone. She tried her hardest to keep her composure, "What do you mean you killed her?"

"I killed her. I did what was needed." Itachi reiterated.

"Why did you need to kill your girlfriend," She asked. Carson was scared of what his answer would be. Itachi looked at her sadly, "I can't say. The world I come from isn't like here. On my world, sometimes the only choice you get is between a bad one and a worse one. I chose the bad one."

"What was the worse one?" She asked hesitantly.

"Someone else would have done it. I'd rather her die in the arms of someone she was in love with than die by the cold hands of some stranger. I gave her what she wanted in the end and despite knowing that it was me that killed her, she died with a smile and thanked me. Before her last moments I thanked her for being the only person not to view me as some genius from our village; she viewed me as the man that she was in love with."

"Someone made you kill her…that's so cruel. Itachi I-I don't know what to say. I'm glad she was able to die in your arms. It must have been so peaceful to have you be the last thing she ever saw." Carson said with tears in her eyes. She really understood why Itachi didn't want to talk about his past or dive head first into relationships.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Itachi asked after a while.

"What world do you come from that makes someone as kind as you kill?" She asked with anger.

"A cruel one. I come from a different Earth, but not a different world. So in a sense, you should know exactly what type of world makes someone do that." He noted.

"A different Earth? What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"I don't necessarily know myself. My guess is that there are several universes of Earths that all exist in the exact same time and place in space. The God of my Earth sent me here to your Earth." He hypothesized.

"Why did he do that?" She asked.

"To help save it, that is my mission." He replied. Carson reached over and put his hand in hers, "Then thank you. I don't know if you hear that a lot, but I truly thank you. Now, my head is blown and I have no idea of why my luck is like this, but at the end of the day, despite all of this craziness, I am still glad to have you in my life Itachi."

"Do you have any more questions?" He asked. He was thankful that she didn't reject or fear him after hearing about Izumi.

"No, anything else about your past can stay that way unless you come to me willingly. I wouldn't have guessed any of that about you. It looks like we've both had it rough in the past," She started. She stood up from her spot and nudged Itachi to do the same, "Enough about the past. I want to know about our future. Can we have one…do you even want one with me?"

"…I think the best course of action is for us to stay friends for now. I don't want you to get too emotionally invested while this threat is still out there…and I don't want to lose you. I care too much about you. Any decision that I make has your safety and well-being in mind," He answered after much thought.

Carson did not like his decision, but respected where he was coming from now that she knew more about him, "I understand. Everyone close to you is a target…I-I guess I just thought that we…that we..," She was clearly getting upset at this apparent rejection of her feelings. Itachi continued on though since he wasn't finished.

"But maybe…after this threat is dealt with, we can try to be more than friends. If that's what you still want." He finished.

Carson nodded her head and gave him a softer hug than she usually did. This wasn't a hug out of concern, but one of joy. Itachi returned her hug and they stood there in a very intimate moment together.

"I'll always choose you Itachi. I don't know how or why, but from now on we're in this together. There's no getting rid of me. We can be friends for now, but don't think I don't think about your safety too. You've lived such a hard life, we both have. I want this mission to be your last one. I want you to finally live your life in peace. Promise me this is it for you," She whispered.

"Peace is all I've ever wanted, I promise this is it." Itachi said. Carson smiled hearing that. She cupped his face with both of her hands and pressed her forehead against his, "Let's go back. You got a world to save."

Itachi nodded his head, swept her up, and leapt onward towards the tent. But to the both of them, he was leaping onward towards their future.

* * *

While Carson and Itachi had their heart-to-heart, James was off having an important conversation in his own right. He was currently on the phone with his boss Amanda Waller and they were discussing what to do about the clone. Argus higher ups were getting increasingly worried about the timetable of the clone since the entire set of DNA templates were failing miserably. After this global mishap, Waller, James, and the others were of the opinion that the Justice League could no longer be trusted to defend the planet from metahuman threats.

"I understand Ms. Waller, but I was there. I saw him conjure up a giant humanoid avatar that cut up the plant like a knife through butter. He is more dangerous than Superman ever was because he's not afraid of using his full power. We need to expedite the process or face global consequences," He spoke.

"There isn't much we can do if the clones start to break down since we don't have a viable kryptonian template. Our DNA templates aren't strong enough to be able to produce an efficient clone. We need another template and unless you're willing to fight Superman yourself, we are out of luck." Waller responded.

"How did those crooks over at Cadmus get their hands on one? They've been able to make a perfectly functioning clone that doesn't break down," James vented.

"They have Luthor funding them. He's battled Superman enough times to get more than enough DNA material needed to create a clone. But I wouldn't call that clone fully functioning. I came across him back at Belle Reeve a while back and he showed no type of allegiance to Cadmus. He seemed to operate with the Justice League. We need a clone that is strictly loyal to furthering the causes of Argus," She said.

"Do you have a mission for me Ms. Waller?" James asked wanting to do something rather than sit around while a guy like Crow roamed the streets free.

"No, not at the moment. You've already done more than I could have hoped. Getting the Crow's identity was huge for Argus. For now just keep doing what you're doing. We need eyes on that vigilante at all times. He came from a different Earth in the multiverse, I wanna know why," She ordered before hanging up.

James groaned in frustration. The last thing he wants to do is tail Itachi. What he really wants is to detain and send him back to whatever world he came from. James didn't like how close Itachi was to his sister and wanted to snap that cord immediately, _'She doesn't see how dangerous he is. I need to take him down before she gets in too deep and gets herself killed for his actions.'_

"I believe that you are in need of assistance," James drew his firearm and turned around to see a masked figure standing next to him. The person had a cloak on that covered their entire body and a mask that was gold and red. James warned the person not to move, "Stay right there! If you move an inch I swear I'll shoot you!"

The figure moved forward anyways. James tried to shoot at it, but felt frozen with fear all of a sudden. He has never felt anything like this in his life, like everything around him was dead. The masked person was soon face-to-face with James, "I believe that I can help you with your situation."

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop on people's conversations. Just who the hell are you and what do you want," James demanded.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What really matters is what you want," the masked person countered.

"I want you and the rest of these superpowered freaks to crawl back into the hole you came out of, the Justice League included." James answered.

"What if I could help with that?" The hooded figure inquired. James got curious and wanted to hear more, "Go on."

"You were talking about making a clone strong enough to take on not only the Crow, but the entire Justice League. But you just can't seem to make one, what if I provided you with the source material you needed," The stranger explained.

"You're telling me you have DNA of the kryptonian to give?" James asked.

"No, I have something even better." The stranger said. James wasn't trying to hear it though, "Superman alone is strong enough to cripple Argus, not to mention his entire team of metas which include vigilantes, demigods, and aliens. Oh and let's not forget about the kryptonian clone they already possess. What could you possibly have that could defeat all of that?"

"The blood of the Crow," the stranger said sadistically. James didn't know how to react to hearing that. The masked stranger then pulled out a vial that had a label on it that read Crow. James' eyes almost popped out of his head, "How did you get that?"

"Does it really matter? What matters is what you are going to do with it. You say you want the League gone, well so do I. So why don't I help you out by providing this to you so that we can both get what we want," The stranger reasoned.

James was skeptical though, "And what's in it for you?" The masked figure laughed. "The end. The end of a lifelong mission of mines."

"And that is?" James asked while eyeing the vial. The figure looked up at the night sky, "To stop all the cruelty in the world. It's why I must stop the Justice League. They don't stop cruelty, they enable it. They arrogantly fly above us while preaching that they are one of us, but when the time comes for them to answer for things like what just happened around the world; they are nowhere to be found. As long as they remain in power the world will never be safe from attacks like what just happened here in Gotham. If Poison Ivy was dealt with years ago when she first emerged, none of this would have happened. Don't you want to end this senseless, repetitive violence?"

The person handed the vial to James, whom reluctantly accepted it, "Yes, I do. Thank you for this. I promise that I will create something powerful enough to invoke real change. With your help, the cruelty of this world can finally be stopped."

The figure started to fade away into the darkness, but not without leaving James with one last thought, "You can either be the fool who let this world burn, or the hero who saves it. Bring the Justice League down along with all of their enemies so that we can finally have peace for our time."

James watched as the figure disappeared. He was conflicted on what to do as he stared at the vial containing Itachi's blood. With something like this Argus can create a clone of him that is powerful enough to defeat the entire Justice League, but at what cost.

"Carson would be furious if she found out my role in all of this, but what choice do I have. She was housing a vigilante right under my nose for all of this time and didn't say a word. He could have killed her. He could have done to her what he did to Black Mask. He and metas just like him can't be allowed to roam free. The entire Justice League and every supervillain they have ever faced must be brought to justice; human justice. And with this vial, we can finally fight fire with fire."

James called his boss back to relay the news to her, "Ms. Waller. I have something that will excite you."

"I don't excite easy so it had better be good," She responded sounding agitated. She did not want to argue with a subordinate after having already giving strict orders to them.

"It's regarding the cloning process. I just acquired something that will push our timetable up." He informed.

"You have DNA from Superman?" She asked incredulously.

"No…I have DNA from the Crow. With him on our side, the Justice League's days are numbered." James retorted while glancing at the vial with a smile on his face.

"Is it enough to make a stable clone that doesn't breakdown?" She asked. James pocketed it and went back towards the survival tent, "Yes, we have everything we need. I just need to get back to headquarters so that the scientists can begin the cloning process."

"We'll send a jet for you. Good work Major Collins. I can always count on you to be a problem solver." She said praisingly.

"Ma'am, Yes Ma'am!" He said as she hung up. He was giddy with excitement, _'Today marks the beginning of the end for all metahumans. Today we take back our planet.'_

Far away on a building, the masked figure watched on as James went back into the tent. The stranger was soon joined by their collaborator, Vandal Savage.

"Was it wise to give the vial to him? You are taking a big chance on them being able to succeed in helping our plans," he argued.

"When you are good at anticipating the human mind, you leave nothing to chance. The clone they make will further the plan no matter what the outcome is. I've assured it." The hooded person replied.

"We could have made that clone ourselves. Why did we have to give the vial to that sham of a government agency?" Savage asked.

"Because we need to keep the element of surprise. Cadmus has already made a clone, but that ended in failure. The clone didn't do what was designed of it because we gave it too strict of an endgame. This time we will loosen up and maintain flexibility. If we were to create a second clone and the League were to defeat it or worse, coerce it to their side, it would lead to all of us being outed and soundly defeated. It would undo all of the headway we made from using the Injustice League as a scapegoat. We must remain anonymous," The person explained.

"I see. You did it so that we can divert attention away from us, while also making progress towards our goal. With Argus being the one making the clone, the League will come down on them instead of us," Savage surmised.

"Yes, we are using Argus whether they agree to it or not. And when those two powerhouses clash, we will be there to pick off whoever wins," The stranger finished. Vandal Savage grinned evilly at his partner's master plan, "You truly are a genius."

"No, I just want to see the world burn. And that fool down there is about to light the match that starts the flames." The figure stated.

"And when the fire dies out and this world is nothing but ash, we will rise up from the darkness to shine our Light." Vandal announced. The hooded person nodded at Vandal as he left to go back to their base to witness just how all of this will unfold. Vandal asked if his partner wanted to join, but was turned down. He shrugged and left out on his own.

"I'd like to see how this unfolds up-close and personal. I've laid out all of the options and scenarios, now I get to see all of the choices of the pawns in this game. It doesn't really matter because in the end because the only winner in all of this will be me." The figure stated before fading away into the darkness.

* * *

Itachi dropped off Carson back at the survival tent. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before running inside. Both James and Ms. Yumi met her as she went in. The old woman peeked out to see Itachi who nodded at her as a way to let her know that the conversation went well. She smiled back before heading back inside to join the others.

Itachi was on his to a zeta-tube to join the Team for their first training session together. He figured the more training and missions they got, the better unit they'd be as a whole. Itachi only wished, though, that he knew where Paula was. Artemis would not be pleased that he lost track of her mother, but Ms. Yumi assured him that she was safe.

He was about to get beamed when he turned to deflect some shuriken that was thrown his way. There was only three people he knew that could sneak up this closely to him without catching on quicker; Batman who didn't use this brand of shuriken, Deathstroke who should still be trying to grow back his legs, which left only one other person.

"Hello handsome, it's been a while. Did you miss me?" Cheshire Cat asked finally announcing herself.

"No, I didn't." Itachi replied as he threw shuriken back at her. She dropped down from the rooftop she was on and held her hands up as a sign of her not wanting to fight, "Calm down. As much as I would enjoy having a go at you, that's not why I came here."

"Why are you here than?" Itachi asked while still on alert. He was glad he keeps his mask on for the most part or he would have been left exposed to her. She took her mask off and had a sincere look of gratitude on her face, "To thank you. You saved someone close to me."

Itachi saw her face and saw that she wasn't some spry, veteran kunoichi like how he thought. She was a beautiful young woman that looked like she was close to his age in fact. She also looked like a certain someone that he knew, "You're Paula's daughter…and Artemis's sister."

"What gave me away? Was it my good looks?" She said jokingly. She started inching closer to Itachi, but he was still on alert. She gave a fake pout when he stayed ready to attack, "Aw, you still don't trust me? I'm hurt."

"You tried to kill me." Itachi responded stoically. She shrugged her shoulders and laughed, "It was just a mission. You don't look dead to me. You do look stiff though, my gosh. Maybe I could give you a massage, among other things."

"Stay away from me. Why are you here anyways? Do you get off on bothering me," Itachi asked. She purred and continued to flirt with him, "You'd be surprised what gets me off. Maybe one day you'll find out for yourself."

"If you don't have anything important to tell me, I'd appreciate it if you jumped off that bridge I kicked Deathstroke off of. I know you were there watching." Itachi revealed.

"Oh I know, and I enjoyed every second of it. I just came to see if you were single," Itachi glared at her from behind his mask. She noticed how annoyed he was getting and was enjoying all of it, "I so enjoy this, but the real reason I came here was to let you know that Paula is safe. I was the one who liberated her from that tent. She didn't used to be this nice in the past and if someone from that past had recognized her, then that would have caused me to do something that was not nice."

"I see. I'll be sure to let Artemis know." Itachi informed.

"You be sure to do that handsome. She should know where Paula's at once you tell her it was me that took her. Well that's it for now hotness, just decided I should let you know since you and my mom are such good buddies. Till next time Crow," She dropped a smoke bomb and disappeared. When the smoke cleared, only a letter was left.

It read, 'In case you ever wanted to meet up without our masks on, you can find me here. You will seek me out one day and when you do I have to warn you…I bite.' The end of the letter had a crow's feather attached to it along with a map to a location in Gotham. Itachi looked on stoically as he put the letter into his seal.

Itachi headed to the zeta-tube and beamed away to meet his teammates at the Cave. He hoped that this wasn't a precursor to what the rest of his day would be like.

* * *

He beamed to the Cave and saw that everyone was already geared up and ready to proceed with the exception of Wally, who was still hurt. Itachi walked over to greet them.

"You ready for this? I can't wait to see what you got," Robin said excitingly. Itachi smiled at how enthusiastic he was. He looked around and saw that Robin wasn't the only one. They all seemed excited for this, even Conner.

"It's just training," Itachi said trying to quell everyone's expectations. Artemis told him that it was no use, "None of us got any sleep last night. We get to see just how good you are."

"Maybe one of us will get to spar with you. See if you're as good as a fighter as advertised," Conner said while hoping he could fight his new teammate.

"Do you know who will be coordinating all of this," Itachi asked. Everyone shook their heads no. Apparently Batman wanted them to be surprised by their trainer. M'gann did not approve, "I just hope we don't get anyone too crazy."

Just then a zeta-tube was opened and their trainer/den mother for the next few weeks came out. It was none other than the Black Canary and she already looked ready for a fight. The whole team groaned as her reputation as a tough teacher was well earned. She cracked her knuckles before walking over to address the Team.

"Looks like I get to train you guys. Hey, what's with the long faces? By the end of this training session you will all be a more cohesive unit. Oh and by the way," She said while pointing at Itachi with her staff, "The first training exercise will be a one-on-one spar. You're up first Itachi, and your opponent is me."

Itachi nodded at her as he got ready for the start of his journey with his new team.

* * *

That's it for this chapter! Sorry it took so long to write. I had to write and rewrite certain aspects of it until it fit how I wanted the story to progress. I know this chapter is dialogue heavy, but implore you to pay attention to everything. Everything written in this chapter has huge implications on how this story will now progress. The true enemy is finally starting to make their plans known. The payoff may not be immediate, but it will all make sense soon and in a big way. And for those who are scared, this is not a harem lol. I am really excited for the future of this story and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Please read and review peeps. Until next time guys and gals!

PS: Oh and who else is as excited for the Justice League movie as I am! I bought my ticket three weeks ago and I hope the movie is as good as it can be!


	17. Lessons Learned

The Team watched on with glee. They were about to watch their new teammate Itachi in his first training session, and with the Black Canary no less. Black Canary wanted to see the full scope of Itachi's powers. Batman made it very clear to her that Itachi wasn't someone to be taken lightly. Once she determined what skill level he was at, she would be able to implement a proper team training regimen for everyone.

"Alright, remember there will be no use of lethal force. This is just a training exercise and the purpose of it is to learn, not injure. With that being said, try your absolute best and don't hold back. The winner will be declared when their opponent verbally forfeits or is in a physically disadvantageous position. Is that understood?" She asked.

Itachi nodded in compliance. He walked to his side of the platform while Black Canary stayed at her end and begun stretching. The others talked amongst themselves about the great match they were about to see.

"Who do you think is gonna win? My bet is on Canary." Wally said.

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree with you Wally. I've seen firsthand how good she is in combat." Conner answered.

"Just because you got your butt handed to you on a silver planter doesn't mean Itachi will. You saw how devastating he was against the Injustice League." Robin said coming to Itachi's aid.

"Yeah he really saved our butts there. What do you think Aqualad?" Artemis asked.

"I think Itachi should win this bout. Though you cannot discount experience and how it may come into play." He replied.

"I just hope that nothing horrible happens as a result in all of this. Things usually go off the rails when it comes to us." M'gann added as Wolf barked in agreement with her.

"What's the worst that could happen? Itachi and Canary both seem to be pretty patient so I think it will go smoothly." Wally said dismissing M'gann's worries.

"I hope you're right." She said. Everyone got quiet as the two combatants seemed ready to begin their bout. The Cave computer started its countdown for them to begin. Black Canary got her staff ready while Itachi looked ahead. The countdown was down to ten seconds. Itachi knew that somewhere behind a screen, Batman was watching this.

"Begin!" They both rushed towards each other and started trading a salvo of blows. Canary unleashed a furious volley of strikes with her staff, but all of them either missed or were blocked by Itachi. He created some distance by performing some backflips. Once Itachi got far enough away he summoned some shuriken and threw them at Canary.

Black Canary countered by twirling her staff to deflect the shuriken away. Itachi used this opportunity to rush her. He got back in range and kicked her staff out of her hands. He then kneed her in her stomach and threw her to the ground. She had to quickly roll out of the way as an axe kick came dangerously close to her head. She leapt back to her feet and started throwing volleys of punches to ward Itachi off of her. Once she saw an opening, she threw a powerful head kick towards Itachi which got caught. They were currently in a stalemate.

"Wow, they are good. I can barely keep up." M'gann said astoundingly.

"I could see them just fine. Ow," Artemis hit Wally in his good arm, "Okay, okay. Yeah they're both really good at fighting."

"It's hard to tell who's winning this. They are both amazing." Aqualad noted.

"No, Black Canary isn't on Itachi's level. This fight is done." Robin surmised.

"How can you be so sure?" Artemis asked. Robin smiled and pointed at the two combatants, "Just watch. You'll see what I see."

They looked on as the stalemate continued. Canary marveled at how quick and composed Itachi was, _'All of his movements are perfect and crisp. He's never off-balanced with his footwork and all of his attacks have a flow to it. I can see why Batman is so interested in him. He's good.'_

She and Itachi stood there in a battle of wills. Canary soon noticed two things: One was that his eyes were red _. 'These must be those infamous eyes that I've heard so much about.'_

The other was that he still held a firm grip on her leg. She tried to pry herself loose, but nothing worked. "Would you let go of me?"

"If you say so," Itachi then threw he leg upward. It left her unbalanced and unable to defend herself as a clone emerged from the ground and delivered a hard kickto her ribs. The impact of the blow sent her to the floor. She curled up in pain from the surprise attack, but that didn't stop Itachi from continuing the assault.

Dinah hopped back to her feet and prepared for whatever attack would come next. She was reeling from that kick and mad that she allowed herself to be put in that position. Itachi dispersed his clone and charged towards his opponent. Canary tried to defend herself, but Itachi was just too much for her. Nothing she threw landed and everything he threw connected.

Itachi hit her with a quick jab, cross, and uppercut combination that was finished with him sweeping her legs out from under her. Canary moved quickly and rolled to retrieve her staff from the ground. She used it to block and parry a front kick thrown her way. She finished with a swipe at Itachi's face, though his mask took the brunt of the impact.

She smirked to herself as she finally got some leeway in this fight. Itachi stood there silently after being hit for the first time this fight. Canary used this as a moment to attack, but Itachi dispersed into a flock of crows that flew to the opposite side of the training platform. The rejoined together and formed Itachi once they were at a good enough distance.

"Giving up already? We're just getting started." Canary spoke. Itachi cocked his head to the side at how misguidedly overconfident she was, _'This match is already over. She just doesn't know it yet.'_

In the blink of an eye, Itachi weaved hand signs to unleash a jutsu of his, "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Volleys of fireballs were sent towards Black Canary. She acted on instincts and used her Canary Cry to collide with the fireballs. The sonic blast colliding with the fireballs resulted in a big explosion occurring. Before the smoke was cleared though, Black Canary heard the whizzing sound of shuriken coming her way. She acted fast and used her staff to block them before they could do any damage. They were all lodged into her staff. Out of the smoke came Itachi, who showed no sign of damage or fatigue.

"A layered attack huh, I see you stopped fighting with kid gloves. Using the fireballs to hide the shuriken was smart. Too bad my Canary Cry not only neutralized the fire attack, but also slowed the rotation of the shuriken enough for me to properly defend against them. I've been through a lot of fights and seen a lot of strategies. You're going to have to do better than that." She declared.

"You say you've seen a lot of strategies, but did you happen to see the paper bombs I planted on the shuriken," Itachi asked. Canary looked at her staff and sure enough, the shuriken had paper strips on each of them with kanji that read "explode". She looked up to see Itachi weave the snake hand seal causing all of the shuriken lodged into her staff to explode. She was sent flying and landed in a painful heap. Before she could knock the cobwebs out of her head and get back to her feet, Itachi was standing over her with a kunai in hand.

"You lose," He declared.

* * *

Black Canary shook her head at the result of the battle. Itachi extended his free hand to her, which she gratefully accepted. He pulled her back to her feet and they both walked over to the Team, most of whom were shocked. Only Robin saw this coming.

Itachi had to help hold her up since she was sore from the kick to her ribs and taking an explosion head-on. Once they made it to the others, Black Canary stood at attention to address them.

"That was a productive session. It seems that the reports about your skill level were spot on Crow. Your ability to formulate a multi-layered attack and execute it flawlessly was a stroke of beauty. There aren't too many people on Earth who can keep up with me in a fistfight, but you seem to be one of them." She declared.

"Thank you. What's the next training exercise?" Itachi asked. She smiled and pointed towards Conner, "Conner hear is a clone of Superman. That makes him one of the strongest forces on Earth. Now because he is so strong he can't really test out his abilities because the rest of the Team isn't quite on his level of strength, but you are Itachi. The next exercise will be a bout between Conner and Itachi. No holding back, no holds barred. I want to see just how far the both of you are."

"I don't see why not, though I don't think Itachi will be a match. No offense, but your fire and water tricks won't work on me. I'm too powerful, plus I have invulnerability." Conner said while not trying to sound too much like a jerk.

"You think that makes you without weakness?" Itachi inquired.

"No, just makes it really hard to hurt me. Black Canary has already proven that I have much to learn, but I've trained every day. I don't see any way you could beat me if we aren't holding back and you have no kryptonite." Conner stated.

"Everyone, even Superman, can be beaten. I don't need kryptonite, I have the sharingan. Everyone has a weakness. I'll just have to show you yours." Itachi declared. He started walking back to the sparring platform to proven his point. Conner glared at the Uchiha and stomped over to the platform.

Almost everyone was really interested to see how this would go. M'gann was worried about her boyfriend doing something ill-advised. She knew he had a temper and could be overconfident in his abilities, which could spell trouble against an opponent like Itachi. They just saw him outfight and outsmart an experienced hero like Black Canary.

"I hope he doesn't get himself hurt." M'gann muttered.

"Who Itachi? Because Conner looks like he's in a break something type of mood, especially after that jab Itachi took at him." Wally noted.

"Did you guys not pay attention to the last fight? Itachi won't lose to Conner." Robin declared.

"Why are you such a big fan of his all of a sudden?" Artemis asked.

"I'm not. I'm just a realist. And if I'm being totally honest, Conner doesn't stand a chance." Robin noted.

Conner growled but kept his vision on Itachi who stayed stoic. Aqualad gave his friend and teammate a strange look, "You do know that Superboy can hear all of this right?"

"Yeah, but it won't change how badly Itachi beats him though." Robin said offhandedly.

Wally snickered as Kaldur and Artemis groaned in response. M'gann tried to ignore Robin's words and hope that nothing bad comes of this bout.

"Alright, this bout will have the same rules as last time. Remember no holding back. I need to see where both of you are before I can properly design team training regimens. When the counter hits zero, you can begin." Black Canary announced.

Once the counter hit zero both of the combatants began. Superboy charged at Itachi to try and close the distance between the two. Itachi reacted by weaving his hand signs and unleashing a fire jutsu, "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

A volley of fireballs much bigger than before met Conner halfway. Conner halted his sprint and braced for impact. The fireballs connected and even pushed him back a few feet, but other than that he showed no sign of damage. He cracked his knuckle and smirked at Itachi before continuing his charge. When he reached Itachi he tried to make a grab for him, but Itachi was too fast and jumped over him. Itachi delivered a triple kick combination while in the air that landed only for Superboy to brush it off like nothing happened.

Superboy started throwing striking combinations of his own, but Itachi dodged every single one of them. He didn't even need his sharingan to see them all coming because Conner basically telegraphed his attacks by how out of place he was. There was only one problem as to why Itachi hadn't knock Conner on his back yet; hitting Conner felt like hitting a wall made of steel, only this wall didn't break on impact. Every punch Itachi threw connected, but it felt like more damage was being done to him than to Superboy. Itachi switched his plan up by using another jutsu, "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"

The torrents of water hit Conner like the fireballs, and like the fireballs they had little to no effect on him. Conner leapt from his spot on the platform and dove straight towards Itachi. Itachi decided to meet him up in the air to test a few things out. Itachi landed his kick first as it connected to Conner's jaw. Conner smiled as he finally got what he wanted and took a firm grip of Itachi's leg. Superboy twirled him in the air a few times and sent the vigilante hurdling towards the ground after he threw him. Itachi landed and rolled back to his feet as Conner landed seemingly unharmed. The others cheered at the action they were seeing.

"This is great! Conner has really improved." Wally noted.

"I see all of his hard work is paying dividends. A month ago, there was no way Conner could have executed a move like that." Aqualad added.

"I thought Itachi was gonna beat Conner bad? They look pretty even to me." Artemis added.

"You need your eyes checked then archer. The only reason Conner was able to pull that off was because Itachi wanted him to. He has something planned." Robin noted.

"Why can't you admit that you were wrong?" Artemis asked.

"Is that fight over," Robin asked. The others shook their head no, "Then until it is over and Conner stands victorious, shut up."

Miss Martian ignored her comrades and started to vocalize her support for Conner, "Keep it up Conner. You can do it! I believe in you!"

Conner gave M'gann a look of joy and appreciation for her words. He then turned towards his opponent with newfound confidence, "You see that? I can keep up with you Itachi."

' _Oh I saw it.'_ Itachi thought. Conner was about to sprint again when he heard sizzling on his back. He turned and saw a paper bomb that was ignited. This was different from earlier since it had more chakra infused into it for more power behind the blast. Itachi tagged him with it back when they were in the air. It was one of the few things he wanted to test out; to see whether Conner could notice it or if he'd be too focused on Itachi to see it.

The blast that came knocked the wind out of Conner. He was on all four floors trying to catch his breath. Itachi took this as an opportunity to unleash another jutsu, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

A gigantic fireball came rushing towards him. Conner wound up getting hit because he had no time to move or react. The others watched in shock as their friend was engulfed in flames. M'gann was visibly fearful for Conner's safety. Her fears were put to rest when Conner emerged from the flames, though without his shirt on from the fire burning it away, relatively unharmed.

He gave her a nod to show her that he was alright and then charged at Itachi with ruthless aggression. Just before he made contact with Itachi though, the vigilante disappeared into a flock of crows after uttering the words, "You lose."

The flock of crows reemerged as Itachi who came out firing off another Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Conner dodged and evaded all of the fireballs and made a beeline for Itachi. He stopped when he heard his girlfriend scream in pain. Conner turned to see M'gann had been hit with one of the fireballs and was burning alive. He desperately rushed over to her to help put the flames out. When he reached M'gann, he blew and patted the flames away so that he could hold her close to him. She was unconscious and barely breathing, even with his super-hearing he could barely hear her heartbeat. Conner started crying as he begged her not to leave him all alone again.

Itachi came up behind him with a kunai and in a taunting voice he said, "I thought it was really hard to hurt you. It wasn't hard at all."

Conner head popped up, and in a fit of rage, he lashed out by swinging back at Itachi. When his hit connected Itachi turned into a flock of crows that just flew around in hysteria. He turned back around when he heard M'gann speak.

"I thought that you were invulnerable. Right now, you look pretty vulnerable to me." M'gann said before she too turned into a flock of crows. Conner backed away in shock and fear. Pretty soon Conner could hear all of the crows start to speak, and because of his super-hearing he could distinguish every voice he heard. From Superman to Black Canary, and Kaldur to M'gann, every one of his superiors and teammates were bombarding him with comments on how weak he was and how he would never escape Superman's shadow.

The torture of it all almost drove Conner mad. Itachi stood a ways back and watched as Conner dropped to his knees and clutched his head in pain. Itachi took no pleasure in watching this so he ended to genjutsu he placed Conner under when he tried to charge at him the second time.

To everyone watching the fight, it looked like Conner just stopped out of nowhere and stood still like a statue as Itachi just stared at him. Then when he knelt down and started crying they grew concerned, but it wasn't until he started screaming and clutching his head in pain when they intervened.

M'gann was the first to make it to Conner and tried to shake him out of whatever he was suffering from. The others along with Itachi joined shortly after. M'gann had a look of desperation and fear when she turned to address Itachi, "I feel so much mental unrest inside of him. What did you do to him?"

"I placed him under a genjutsu; an illusion basically. He'll be fine. His brain still thinks it's in the genjutsu. He'll come back to reality soon but I suggest you back away from him." He explained.

"I can help him! All I have to do is-" Itachi cut M'gann off, "No, you can't. Just back away from him now. He's in a lot of pain and-"

Conner's eyes snapped open from hearing Itachi's voice again and he lashed out at the vigilante. He threw the hardest punch he could currently muster at Itachi and since they were so close, Itachi knew that if it connected with him he could die.

Itachi couldn't jump out of the way because Robin was standing behind him and that would mean he'd take the hit instead, so he used the one thing he could that would protect him. Conner's fist connected, but not with Itachi. Instead, he hit something hard. Once the effects of the genjutsu wore off and his eyes were no longer in a blurry haze, he saw a huge red ribcage had surrounded Itachi. There were slight cracks in the ribcage from his fist, but Itachi was unharmed from his positon inside the defense.

"There is nothing more dangerous than a man in pain." Itachi finished.

Conner immediately felt guilty that he almost harmed Itachi. The ribcage soon dissolved and the others quickly came to Conner's aid. He needed help standing and his senses still felt wobbly at best, but Itachi assured them that those would all wear off soon. The Team took Conner to a bench to get his wits back and to make sure that he was truly okay.

"I guess we know who won that fight." Wally commented which got him a glare from a few of his teammates.

"This spar wasn't about who wins or loses, it was about determining skill levels. Connor still has a ways to go." Itachi said.

"What type of illusion did you put him under?" Black Canary asked.

"I wanted to see how he'd react to seeing a teammate get hurt. He basically broke down which allowed me to see all of his other weakness. I wanted Conner to see that just because he's invulnerable, doesn't mean that he can't be hurt." Itachi answered. He purposefully kept the details of the genjutsu vague for Conner's sake.

"He couldn't have been in that illusion for more than a few minutes though. To cause this much damage is insane." Artemis commented.

"You can spend your entire life strengthening the muscles in your body, but when I'm your opponent, the only muscle that matters is the one that's in your head. All I need to do is make eye contact or point with my finger in order to put someone under a genjutsu." Itachi responded.

"If you could have done that just by pointing or eye contact, why did you not start off with a genjutsu?" Kaldur asked.

"Like I said earlier, this spar wasn't about who wins or loses, it was about skill level assessments. If I had started off with that, our teacher wouldn't be able to determine where Conner and I are at skill wise." Itachi answered.

"He's right. Even in that short little exchange of blows between them, I got a good sense of where Conner and Itachi are at." Canary added.

"And where are Itachi and me ranked then?" Conner grunted.

"Strong points I saw in you Conner: You have made great strides in your hand-to-hand combat training. Keep on this path and I see you becoming a great hero in your own right. As for what needs to improve: you still need more real life combat experience. You rushed in without giving any thought as to what Itachi's plan was. You just thought that whatever it was you could just take it and keep fighting, but you were wrong. If this were a real fight, you would have gotten a lot yourself hurt badly or even killed, not to mention your teammates. You must learn how to assess fighting strategies on the fly, even without prior intel on your opponents." She assessed.

Conner dropped his head down, but M'gann and the others assured him that he did great which lifted his spirits up. He was determined to get better for the Team.

"Don't tell him I said this, but even Superman needs improvement so you should be fine Conner." She said trying to keep the young heroes confidence up. The others chuckled, minus Itachi, at her jab. Canary coughed to get their attention since she wasn't finished.

"And for you Itachi, your hand-to-hand combat skills are extraordinary and your fight IQ is second to no one I've ever fought. Your ability to assess your opponent's abilities and come up with a sound strategy to combat them was truly a sight to behold. You never looked rattled or like you didn't have the entire situation cased mentally. Even when Conner gained an advantage when he threw you out of the air, you came right back at him with a well-placed paper bomb that went off without a hitch. I may not know much about genjutsu, but if it's potent enough to make a kryptonian drop to his knees in pain, then that doesn't bode well for normal humans. And as for what needs improvement: Nothing from what I saw in your spars, though I'd like to see how you perform in a drawn out fight. Maybe next time Diana could help with that. You seem to be the perfect fighter, which is astounding considering your age."

Itachi knew he was far from the perfect fighter. He was just advanced in comparison to the fighters of this Earth. Now that Conner was feeling better, Robin took it as an opportunity to gloat to his teammates.

"I told you guys. Conner didn't stand a chance against Itachi." Robin gloated.

"And why were you so sure about that? Conner is Superman's clone for heaven's sake." Artemis challenged.

"Because Alfred showed me the tape of when Itachi kicked Batman's butt. If he could beat Batman, that there was no way he'd lose to Conner, kryptonian or no kryptonian." Robin answered smugly.

Artemis had completely forgotten that Itachi had defeat Batman before. Had she remembered, she'd have picked Itachi too. Wally and Aqualad were shocked to hear that Itachi fought and won against Batman. Canary couldn't help but laugh.

"You must have been why Batman had such a sour mood at one of our past League meetings. I knew it had to have been something because for some reason all he did and said were grunts and mumbles. For a second I thought he was the Flash when he zoomed out of the meeting so fast when it concluded. This is too good, wait till Ollie hears about this." She said excitedly.

Itachi really wanted to avoid that happening because Batman would only wind up blaming him for that. M'gann got curious about something and decided to ask Itachi, "What else can you do with your eyes? And what was that ribcage that you summoned out of nowhere?"

"Yeah, when Conner lashed out at you, I thought you were about to be turned into a human piñata." Wally added.

"My sharingan allows me to do a lot of things. One of which is enhanced perception, it's why Conner and Black Canary both had a hard time hitting me. I knew their every move before they even did. They only got the few moves off that they did because I wanted to see if they'd notice the traps I set up for them. The more advanced the sharingan is, the more proficient the added perception becomes. There are two broad functions of the sharingan; they are the Eye of Insight and the Eye of Hypnotism."

"Wow that sounds complicated. Do you mind breaking it down for us?" Artemis asked.

"The Eye of Insight allows me to see chakra, which isn't possible through normal means. I can also see people on a cellular level if the case need be. Because of the increased perception, I can do things like read lips, mimic body movements, and in combat, I can see and assess fast-moving objects that normally can't be seen. I can also anticipate an opponent's next move based on the slightest muscle tension in their body and act accordingly. But even with all of that, I need to be physically capable of reacting to the visual information or else I'd just end up seeing me being punched in the face a few seconds before it actually happens. And lastly after I establish eye contact, I can enter a target's mind and do things like seep through their memories." He explained.

"Geez with powers like that how could you ever lose a fight Mr. 'Perfect Fighter'." Wally remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I am in no way a perfect fighter. I have plenty of flaws, as we all do. I'm just better at hiding mine than you are at hiding yours." Itachi countered as Wally felt deflated.

"You can go through into people's minds? Are you sure you're not a Martian like M'gann?" Robin joked.

"I'm sure of what I am. Now as for the Eye of Hypnotism; it's what you just saw Conner get hit with. Genjutsu is a main staple of the sharingan. Though it can be used in other ways, the best known manifestation is to suggest thoughts and actions to a target in order to get them to divulge information or act in a particular way, all without them even knowing. In extreme cases I can take complete control over a target's body and force them to do anything I wish. I can also control multiple targets at once, though the more targets under my control, the easier it will be for them to break free since my attention is so divided." He finished.

"You can do some of the things I can. That's amazing." M'gann complimented.

"Yes, just not as well as you. For me to do those things takes a lot of chakra, but you do it naturally without any drawbacks. There are other abilities of the sharingan, but they are forbidden to use because of the cost." Itachi stated solemnly.

"What is the cost of these forbidden moves," Aqualad asked. Itachi remembered what happened when he used the Izanami while fighting Kabuto, "They cause permanent blindness."

Everyone was shocked at such a steep price. They figured whatever the techniques were must be powerful enough to be worth the blindness. Conner remembered the red ribcage he punched and asked Itachi how he conjured it up, "So that illusion that I saw was a genjutsu huh. What about the ribcage?"

"That is the sharingan's strongest ability. It is called the Susanoo and is only unlocked by achieving mangekyo sharingan," Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan to show them. The others watched in awe as they saw his eyes literally changed to form a type of pinwheel. Wally commented on how cool it was, but Itachi couldn't disagree more. It wasn't cool having to watch Shisui die in order to unlock it.

"The mangekyo grants me additional powers on top of a normal sharingan. I can use Amaterasu, which is the black heavenly flame, and the Tsukuyomi, which is the most powerful genjutsu ever created. With Amaterasu I can burn anything since the flames lasts for seven days and seven nights. The only way they are extinguished is if the target is burned to ashes. The Tsukuyomi is a genjutsu that allows me to control everything in the illusion, including time and space. I can make three seconds in the real world feel like three years in the Tsukuyomi. It leaves the victim in severe psychological trauma and in extreme cases dead. The Joker is the only person who's experienced it without showing signs of severe mental trauma." Itachi summarized.

"Trying to make the Joker go crazy is a lost cause man." Robin added

"Your powers sound overwhelming. How is it that you've remained off the radar for so long?" Canary asked.

"My eyes mean nothing if I'm not skilled enough to wield them properly. And to answer your question I've lived under a rock all this time," Itachi answered as a call back to when he first met Carson. The others chuckled at his answer while their teacher shook her head. She got their attention and told them that that was it for individual sparring and now they'd focus on team exercises. The Team went to the obstacle course to practice new fighting formations as Black Canary and Kid Flash watched.

* * *

A few hours later the Team had finished all of the exercises for the day. Since they didn't have any new missions sent by Batman, Canary decided to give them the day off early for the hard work they put in. Itachi was off by himself when Artemis came up next to him. She asked about her mother and how she was doing. Once Itachi told her about her sister, her great mood turned sour quickly. He made sure to leave out the flirting part.

"Of course that witch would take mom. Sorry, I have to go get my mom. And here I thought this was going to be a relaxing afternoon." She vented.

"Do you want me to accompany you to find her?" Itachi offered.

"No, no that's fine. I know where she's been taken. No need for both of us to waste our afternoons. I'll be sure to let her know you were thinking of her though. Bye." She said as she rushed to be zeta-tubed back to Gotham.

"Hey man. Can we talk…away from the others?" Conner said awkwardly. Itachi nodded at him and walked further away from the group to avoid being eaves dropped on.

"I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like I did. I could have hurt you." Conner said sadly.

"No need. You're head wasn't all the way back. I don't hold grudges." Itachi replied in order to dismiss Conner's worries.

"Thanks man. And thanks for not telling everyone about the illusion I saw, especially M'gann. I take it you know that me and her are together." He said shyly.

"Yes." He answered.

"What gave us away?" Conner asked.

"Back when we sparred and you threw me, everyone on the Team gave you praise, but you didn't turn to acknowledge it until M'gann ultimately spoke up. That and I've seen how you interact with her while on missions. You tend to be more overprotective and concerned about her than anyone else. If that keeps up it will get your teammates hurt one day, especially if your first reaction to seeing her dying is to break down." Itachi advised.

"So what?! You want me to just break up with her then!" Conner growled as his temper rose. Itachi stayed calm and gave his honest opinion.

"I didn't put you in that genjutsu to give you the idea that you should break up with her, I did it because not everyone is as blind as Artemis and Wally is. If a villain picks up that you and her are in a relationship, it could compromise not just the two of you, but the entire Team. Do you want to be responsible for any of them getting hurt? What about M'gann? You think she wants that?" Itachi asked.

"No, she wouldn't. I guess I still have a long way to go." Conner said sounding disappointed.

"Yes, but that's what your teammates are here for. M'gann, or anyone else for that matter, isn't a weakness to you; they are your strength. We all want you to succeed. You don't have to worry about walking in Superman's footsteps; you can make your own, right here with the Team." Itachi responded.

"Superman…I don't understand him. I'm his clone, but he treats me like I'm some mistake of his. I couldn't care less about walking in his footsteps or his approval." Conner gruffly said.

"That's not true and you know it. He's a part of you and as much as he'd like to deny it, you are a part of him too. Remember though he may be super, at the end of the day he is still a man which means he isn't perfect. Just give him time and let him get to know you." Itachi advised.

"I'll try, but no promises. Thanks for the advice. I hope we can spar again sometime," Conner said. Itachi nodded at him and Conner went to rejoin M'gann. Before he left he made sure to shout, "And no genjutsu next time. It's cheating."

Itachi shook his head at his friend and went back to deciding what his next move should be. He still had no idea who this great enemy was he had to face, and he's been on this Earth for months. The lack of progress made him sigh with frustration.

"You look pretty stressed." Black Canary commented.

"I have a lot on my mind." Itachi replied.

"I'm sorry to interrupt then. I just wanted to let you know that we have training again, but at three tomorrow. The kids all have school to attend to." She informed Itachi.

"I see. I'll be sure to be there."

"Do you go to school," She asked him. He shook his head no to her. Itachi hasn't seen a class room since he was seven, "I work during the day."

"Where do you work at?"

"The Chinatown Mask Shop over in Gotham." He answered.

"You know, with powers as advanced as yours you should be in the League." She confessed.

"You all don't trust me enough yet, which is understandable." Itachi replied.

"For what it's worth Shazam seems to trust and like you. And I see no hidden evil inside you either." She said trying to smooth things over.

"I see. Is that all?" Itachi asked politely.

"Two things actually: How does someone defeat the sharingan." She asked.

"One on one it's virtually impossible. It can be done, but it would take an extremely high level of discipline since you'd essentially have to fight without looking into their eyes. The shortcut way of doing it would be by finding someone else with the sharingan to fight me. Only someone with my blood can fight out of genjutsu such as Tsukuyomi. The only other way would be to have multiple opponents fight me at once. If I'm split between multiple opponents I won't have time to successfully cast a proficient genjutsu, which means the fight would most likely stay physical. But I must warn you, if I get to the point where my Susanoo is needed to be summoned, almost no attack against me will succeed. Its defense is very potent, though if it makes you feel comfortable I can show you some of its weak points." He answered.

"Why would you tell me how to defeat you in combat?" She asked genuinely confused. Itachi figured Batman instructed her to ask him this.

"You asked and because I want you to feel like you can trust me. I don't want there to be secrets that I need to keep. We are all on the same team." Itachi explained.

Black Canary smiled at her subordinate for his answer, "I trust you Itachi."

He nodded before asking her about the second thing she wanted to know, "Oh, you're going to be getting a visitor at work tomorrow morning. He's very interested in finally talking to you personally." She informed him.

"From who?" He asked.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise." She replied teasingly before leaving. Now that the conversation was done Itachi decided that he'd head to Gotham. He wanted to check on Carson and Ms. Yumi. It was still day time so he decided that he'd help Ms. Yumi with whatever repairs to the shop she needed after the plant attack in Gotham and then he'd check out for the day. He decided that he'd let Batman handle the patrols in Gotham for the night, Itachi just wanted a good night's rest after some hectic past few days.

* * *

James was currently at Argus headquarters. He handed the vial over to his bosses who immediately started working on manufacturing a clone. He looked on through a glass window as the doctors worked with a new sense of urgency that he hasn't seen before. Amanda Waller walked up to him and patted his shoulder.

"Because of you we will have a fully operational clone of the Crow ready soon." She announced.

"How soon?" James asked. He wanted the League dealt with now.

"By the end of the week, that's the deadline. The doctor's jobs are on the line." She answered.

"What happens when the clone is operational? How will it work?" James asked curiously.

"The clone will have all of the abilities of the Crow. Our engineers are already working on a controlled dark matter fusion reactor to energize the cells of the clone so that it can be at its maximum peek. Any meta power he has to unlock will be unlocked." She replied.

"Okay it'll have all of the Crow's powers, what about combat style and personality traits?" James inquired.

"Oh we have someone who will personally oversee that." She answered with a smirk.

"Who," James asked. Waller showed him an image of the person on her tablet, "Professor Ivo. He designed and created the Amazo android. It had the abilities to copy all of the powers of the Justice League and nearly brought them to their knees. Our clone will copy all of the surveillance footage we have on Crow, along with the fighting styles of only the elite of fighters. We will use Ivo's memory depth technology to imprint memories of the Crow unto our clone until it reaches the point where it hates the Crow. The clone will destroy the Crow and all of his comrades at all costs. The fall of the Justice League begins now."

"Where is professor Ivo?" James asked. She expanded the image on the tablet to full view, "In Belle Reeve Prison where we left him. We will pick him up shortly, we're just waiting on something first."

"I see. Do you need anything of me?" James asked.

"You've done enough. Now, it's our turn. Just stay on standby, just in case." She ordered.

"Yes Ma'am." He saluted her before walking away. He'd finally get his wish of a world without metas or aliens, and he'd use Itachi to achieve it.

* * *

It was about ten in the morning and Itachi was currently working his shift in the mask shop. Thankfully the shop didn't need too many repairs done it and could be opened today. Not everyone was so lucky though. The plant attack on Gotham caused a lot of property damage to the city. Fortunately, Lex Luthor, Oliver Queen, and Bruce Wayne all gave generous donations towards the repairs needed for the city. Construction was already beginning and the buildings damaged should be repaired soon.

One of the buildings damaged was Carson's and Paula's apartment complex. It needed major repairs and until it was done, they both needed to find new places to sleep. Paula and Artemis were staying in a former home of their not too far from the apartment. Carson was currently staying with Carla in her home. Carla's Café was also badly damaged in the siege. Carla was beginning to wonder if her café was cursed or something.

Since she didn't have class today and her place of employment was currently under construction, Carson was offered a job by Ms. Yumi to work in her mask shop. She was currently working her shift with Itachi. You could imagine the look on Itachi's face when he went to open up and he saw Carson in work clothes. He looked at Ms. Yumi and she shrugged by saying that he was moving too slow for her taste.

Itachi had to sit there and watch as guy after guy came in and flirted with Carson right in front of him as if he couldn't set them on fire at any moment. She just ate the attention up and made sure to try and get a rise out of Itachi. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction though as he'd just simple ignore her and work on polishing more masks.

"You can't tell me that working together is that bad?" She asked in a childlike voice.

Itachi simply ignored her. She thought he was jealous, but he just had no intention of giving in to her petty games. If he did she would win, and they both knew that. Ms. Yumi was just amazed at all the customers that were coming in after such an attack. In her head she just knew she made the right decision hiring Carson. Even though she struggled at times at Carla's Café, here in Chinatown Mask Shop she is a natural.

A plain looking customer walked in. Carson decided that Itachi could handle this and decided to go check on the masks in the back. Itachi asked if the customer knew which mask he wanted, and the customer smiled and replied.

"I'm looking for a crow mask. You wouldn't happen to have one would you? He asked.

Itachi looked up and eyed the customer again. His face and voice felt familiar to him, but when he looked into the man's eyes he immediately knew who it was. Even with glasses on, Itachi could still tell that the man he was speaking with was none other than Superman.

"Yeah we have a crow mask. I never got your name. It is?" Itachi asked.

"Kent. Clark Kent. And you," Clark responded. Itachi looked back to make sure Carson couldn't hear who he was talking to, "Itachi Uchiha."

"Nice to formally meet you…Crow."

"Same here…Superman." He responded.

"Why don't we finish this somewhere more private? I know a great place in Metropolis. The pie there is amazing." He stated.

"Carson, I'm going on break. Don't wait up," Itachi called out to Carson.

Carson shouted from out back, "Huh?!"

Itachi shook his head and had to stop from groaning. Clark smiled at the young vigilante and led him outside. Itachi waited before they were more secluded before asking, "Are you flying us over there? In broad daylight?"

Clark responded by taking off his disguise and revealing his Superman attire, "You and Batman may be used to the whole night shtick, but there are heroes who actually work during the day. Have you flown before?"

"I've ridden on Miss Martian's bioship before," Superman had to stifle a laugh, "Not what I meant. Better buckle up."

"What are you-" before Itachi knew it, he was high up in the air as Superman held him by his arms. He could hear Superman laugh as they blasted through the air as high speed. Itachi looked up at Superman who had the biggest smile on his face. Itachi felt the wind fiercely brush against his face and as much as he wanted to be put down, he looked down and figured he'd wait until they were a couple thousand feet lower to the ground. He knew one thing; whatever Superman wanted to talk to him about had better be worth it.

* * *

That's it for this chapter! Thank you for all the faves, follows, and reviews. Some of them really make my day. We aren't that far away from the first big boss so watch out. See you guys and gals next time!


	18. Prelude to War

Itachi and Clark were both sitting in a diner called Mo's Café. Clark had just finished ordering himself a pecan pie while Itachi settled for a glass of water. Itachi was on guard about this conversation they were having since he was talking to possibly the most powerful being on Earth. Clark could feel the tension and decided to lighten things up.

"Beautiful weather isn't it? It's nothing like how it is over in Gotham?" Clark commented.

Itachi stayed silent. He sure didn't sound like the most powerful being on Earth. Itachi honestly thought the man was kind of corny and vain. Clark raised an eyebrow at the vigilante in confusion, "You don't like it here?"

Itachi surveyed his surroundings and took everything in. The café was small, yet lively and everyone inside seemed to be enjoying themselves. It is the perfect place for privacy. From the looks of things Itachi could tell the store was family owned based on all of the personal pictures hung up on the wall. It was another example of just how different the two sibling cities of Gotham and Metropolis were.

One was dark, gritty, and filled with fear while the other was bright, vibrant, and brimming with hope. They both perfectly embodied their protectors. Itachi didn't know what to make of Superman, but if this new team approach was going to work, he'd have to at least try to make an effort.

"It's nice. Both the café and the city." Itachi answered.

"You've never been in Metropolis before?" Clark asked.

"No, I haven't needed a reason to leave Gotham until recently." He answered.

"How's everything going with the Team? A little birdy told me that you are a fighting genius." Clark was curious about the boy sitting in front of him. Dinah and Bruce both praised Itachi glowingly on his fighting abilities, but he was more interested in Itachi the person though. He wanted to know what type of person Itachi was.

"The Team still needs work. They are all undisciplined with the exception of Robin and Kaldur. We all need to go on more missions to gain more group experience and cohesion." Itachi assessed.

Clark laughed at Itachi's answer. It was like he was talking to Batman's clone. The waitress returned with Clark's pecan pie and Itachi's water. Itachi's face stayed stoic and unreadable the entire time. Clark decided to try this again, except this time he'd be more specific.

"I meant interpersonal wise how are they doing? It doesn't take a genius to tell that you all need to go on more missions." He clarified.

"I don't think I've been there long enough to get a good read on everyone. I don't want to mischaracterize anyone." Itachi replied.

"You must have a decent idea though. Just ballpark it for me."

"Robin and Kaldur seem to be the most experienced of the group. Robin is the more laid back of the two, but he's dead serious when it comes to finishing the mission and protecting his friends. Kaldur is a good leader who has the respect of the Team. He takes charge and responsibility of the Team on missions. M'gann is the next mature, though I do sense underlying fears and insecurities within her that spam from her inexperience. She is skilled and smart enough to overcome it though. Artemis and Wally is an issue. They are both immature and undisciplined when paired together which I normally wouldn't care about, except it got Wally injured during the last mission. That is an issue that needs correcting. Conner, he is quite the talent. He has some skill, but still is mostly raw power. With training and proper guidance he can become a great hero if he chooses to be." Itachi said honestly.

Itachi noticed the mood shift of Superman once he mentioned Conner and took stock of it. The pecan pie suddenly became Clark's favorite thing to look at and at that moment Itachi understood where a lot of Conner's strife comes from.

Itachi decided to press into this more, "You and Conner aren't on the best of terms." The way said it made it seem more like a statement than a question. Clark huffed out a breath of frustration as confirmation.

"I-I just don't know what to do. To find out that I've been cloned and…he looks and sounds just like me, but he doesn't act like me. It's jarring. I don't know what to make of him when I see him. Is he just my clone, or is he my son like how Bruce says," Clark vented

"He's neither…he's Conner. He's someone who needs guiding and from what I hear you seem to be a beacon for this world. Conner is still a blank canvas; it won't take much effort to sway him in any which way." Itachi responded.

"I just don't know how to interact with him. He once came to me seeking help and I brushed him off. Doesn't that make me a horrible mentor…father." Clark pondered deeply.

"No, it makes you human," Itachi answered. Clark looked up at the young man sitting before him as he continued on, "You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be there for him. All he wants is to feel like something other than your shadow. He'll never admit it, but he admires you above all else. Not because he was made of you, but because he sees the hero you are and wants to follow that path with you. In order to achieve that, he will need you to be a big brother to him." Itachi finished.

Clark felt inspired by Itachi's words. He didn't know how, but Clark would try to make more of an effort to be there for Conner. He found it ironic, here he was trying to get a read on Itachi, but he wound up getting advice from the young man instead. Bruce was right when he told him that Itachi had experience doing this.

"Do you have a younger brother?" Clark asked.

Itachi looked down at his water as he answered, "Yes, I have a younger brother. He's a lot like Conner now that I think about it. It's why I want you to be there for Conner because I've seen what happens when you choose not to." Itachi answered somberly.

"What happens?" Clark asked curiously.

"He'll find someone that will and they may not be as morally good as you. Just because he is your clone doesn't mean that Conner will grow to be just like you. My brother…his name is Sasuke. I made so many mistakes with him…I was a horrible older brother and I'll live with that for the rest of my life." Itachi answered.

"I'm sure that if Sasuke had you for a big brother it couldn't have been that bad." Clark said in defense of Itachi.

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that statement." Clark was about to ask Itachi to elaborate why when he was interrupted by a surprise visitor.

"What's up Smallville?" Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane asked as she walked up to the pair of heroes.

"Lois, what are you doing here? I thought that you were chasing that story about the Crow over in Gotham." Clark replied while being pleasantly surprised about her visit. Itachi looked up to see the woman take a seat next to Clark at their booth.

"That city is nothing but dead ends. Everyone is so tightlipped about it. Oh and don't get me started on that sham Vicki Vale claiming that I was stepping on her 'turf'. Oh I wanna- hey who's the handsome stud you have with you?" She asked.

"My name is Itachi, but I was just leaving. It's about time for me to go back to work." Clark knew that the work Itachi was speaking of was more practice with the Team. They had talked enough and Clark figured that Itachi seemed to be a nice guy and good addition to the Team.

"Do you need a ride? I don't mind." Clark offered. Itachi immediately rejected.

"No. I can just walk there." Itachi answered. Clark chuckled to himself. When they landed, Itachi wanted to burn him alive and warned him never to do that again. He could see in that moment how someone would think he is as scary as Batman.

"You sure? I don't mind." Clark assured.

"Well I do mind. Thanks for the water." Itachi then got up and headed for the door.

"Thanks for the advice. You'd make a good apprentice." Clark called out as Itachi left.

"Oh so you're considering him for Perry's mandatory apprenticeship rule. I got to admit, he was kind of rude. He could have at least had a smile as he turned you down. But now that I think about it, you really do suck at driving."

"No, he was just here to give a recommendation, and I just might go with his idea. And I do not suck at driving." Clark responded.

"Whatever. So you gonna order me a pecan pie too or do I have to do everything around here?" Lois asked.

Clark smiled at her as her called the waitress over. Clark hoped Itachi was right about Conner. He also hoped that he wasn't too late to make that first step for his clone, or as Itachi suggests; his younger brother.

* * *

A week has gone by since Itachi talked with Superman. He's become quite acclimated with the rest of the Team since joining mostly because of all of the intensive training they've been doing. Itachi worked well with most of them, the lone exception was Wally since his arm was still hurt. At this moment the speedster is currently laying in a lounge chair while Captain Marvel catered to him. Itachi just chose to ignore them and focus on important matters. Not surprisingly, Itachi and Robin worked best together given all of the experience they have with real combat already.

The others were all currently all sparring with each other. They stopped when Black Canary came to address them, "Good work, everyone. In fact, it's been a very productive week."

"Yeah, for everyone except kid malingerer." Artemis joked.

"Hey! My arm was broken in combat against the Injustice League." Wally said defending himself.

"Which wouldn't have happened if you were more disciplined. You have super-speed. There is no reason why anyone should be getting the jump on you. Stop using your powers as a crutch because eventually the enemy will adjust and catch up to you." Itachi reminded.

"He's right you know," Black Canary said validating Itachi's claim. She chuckled and looked at her Team, "I've really enjoyed being your, uh, den mother this week."

They all turned when the sorcerer Zatara zeta-beamed into the Cave. He wasted no time in bringing his daughter Zatanna with him. He introduced her to the Team and most of them were eager to get to know her, especially Robin. Itachi was the only one who kept to himself and watched from a distance.

"I'm Robin, ahem. She's M'gann, and that's Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, and Conner." He informed.

"What about the brooder that's all by himself," She noted. They all turned to see Itachi off by himself away from everyone, "He's Itachi. Don't mind him, he's shy. He's new to the Team."

"Welcome to the Cave." Aqualad said politely.

"Thanks." Zatanna responded.

Robin asked her if she was joining the Team. Before she could answer her father made sure to temper expectations by saying that this was strictly a visit. He apologized for missing the training because he felt Zatanna would have benefitted from it.

" **Do the rest of you get the impression that we're on probation with Zatara?"** M'gann asked telepathically.

" **Not just Zatara. I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around?"** Conner asked.

" **Because we like having him around."** Wally answered like it was so obvious.

" **You like having him around because he caters to you hand and foot."** Artemis retorted.

" **And your point is?"** Wally asked.

" **It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor."** Aqualad added.

" **Yeah, at least he trusted us."** Robin agreed.

" **If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him! He was a traitor. That machine nearly got us all killed."** Conner argued.

" **No, your lack of experience nearly got you all killed. You're starting to sound like little children."** Itachi said condescendingly which got him a glare from Conner.

Zatanna caught on to what was taking place and decided to call them on it, "Are you guys having a psychic conversation? Because I can't tell if that's cool or really rude."

Conner came clean and admitted that their conversation was about Red Tornado. He was frustrated that the League hadn't told them anything about the android despite it being weeks since his attack.

"The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that invaded the Cave and their creator, T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority." Canary said trying to placate them.

"But you've found none of the above." Robin argued.

"Not yet, but Tornado is Justice League. The Team is not to pursue this." She strictly ordered.

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a, uh, tour of the Cave." Zatara offered. None of them were trying to be redirected so blatantly.

Marvel wanted to go on a tour with them, but Conner convinced the demi-god to take Wolf outside for a bit. The others all went ahead with the 'tour'.

"We're not really taking a tour, are we?" Zatanna asked while she flabbergasted Robin because of her mystical change of clothes.

"No, we're hunting down that robot." Conner answered with Aqualad's approval. The leader then turned to face Itachi, "We would understand if you wish to sit this one out. Red Tornado was our supervisor long before you joined our team. Therefore the burden to bring him to justice should be on us. You have no personal stakes in this matter."

Everyone looked at Itachi for his response, "I have two responses to that. The first is that I don't think that Red Tornado willingly betrayed you. I think you all are letting your hurt feelings clouds your judgements thus blinding you to all possible options."

"You were there! You saw him join up with the other androids and attack us. There could be no other option other than betrayal." Conner argued.

"I've been doing this for a long time. There is always more than one option." Itachi refuted.

"What is your second response?" M'gann asked.

"It may not be of personal consequence to me, but it is for the rest of you. We're teammates and that means that if it's personal to you, it's also personal to me too. We're all in this together for better or worse." He answered.

The others were grateful for his help. Conner expressed his gratitude with a smile, but Itachi still reiterated a point he made earlier, "But I still think that you all are acting like children about this. I guess we'll just have to see who's right by the end of this."

Everyone groaned at his last jab and Conner's thankful expression turned into glare which wound up making Zatanna chuckle. The laugh reminded them of a minor problem they might have.

"What about new girl?" Artemis asked.

"I'm sure she won't tell." Robin answered.

"I can't tell. Not if you kidnap me." She replied slyly. Artemis knew that she'd fit in just great.

* * *

The Team all left in M'gann's bioship to go find Red Tornado. Itachi was about to go over the plan again when Black Canary's voice came through the intercom's system. She inquired why the ship was deployed without authorization. M'gann came up with a quick white lie about taking Zatanna to Happy Harbor. Itachi mentally sighed when she used the actual word kidnap in her lie.

"Where are we going? Batman is the world's greatest detective and he searched for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're going to do better, we need an illogical solution. A truly dumb idea." Both Robin and Itachi then turned towards Wally for an answer. Pretty soon everyone else followed suit as Wally tried his hardest not to be offended.

Wally decided that the best place to look would be Ivo in Belle Reeve Prison. His reasoning was that the best way to find a mad genius is by using another mad genius. The others agreed on the plan and headed towards the prison soon afterwards.

When they arrived, they immediately went into an interrogation room with Ivo after calling in a favor with the warden.

"Spill, Ivo. How do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?" Conner demanded.

"Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo questioned.

"Because…and here's a truly dumb idea…you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game. Who better to keep track of what he's up to, and where?" Wally reasoned.

"Ah. I see your point. So let me rephrase…why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?" Ivo asked.

"He knows. Do what you must." Aqualad told to Miss Martian. She tried to read his mind, but Ivo was more than prepared to face a telepath. Itachi, on the other hand, was no telepath.

He lifted the scientist by his lapels and activated his sharingan to cast a genjutsu on him. "How long this genjutsu last depends on you Ivo. It can be over in five seconds or in five years. Where do we find Morrow?"

Ivo's face went from smug to fearful to downright terrified. The others looked in awe as the saw a man being mentally broken before their very eyes. He began crying and begging for mercy. Itachi kicked up the intensity of the genjutsu which caused the man to break. Only six seconds had passed.

"Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Y-Yellowstone National Park! O-One hundred meters south of Old Faithful! Please, stop this madness!" He begged.

Itachi ended the genjutsu and returned the man to his seat. He then curtly left out of the room to head for the bioship as everyone looked on nervously. Once Ivo was free from the genjutsu, he saw that the room was no longer being filled with blood and that the terrifying demon that was in the room had disappeared. He struggled to catch his breath as he wondered what had just happened to him.

The others decided to leave since they got the information they sought. Once everyone was gone a figure came in through a hidden door. That figure was Amanda Waller.

"So professor, did you see what you needed to see?" She asked.

"I saw…his eyes change. I saw too much…" Ivo finished as he kept trying to keep his grip on reality.

"Do you think you can incorporate it into the clone?" She asked.

"Not by experience alone, but thanks to the thermal, retinal, and CAT scans that you have in this room, plus the aid of you-know-who, I should be able to. The deal is still on the table, right?" He inquired.

"You help with the clone for a full pardon, yeah that's still on the table. Thanks to all of the scans here you will have a complete blueprint of how the Crow's eyes work and how to replicate its full potential." She answered.

"How did you know to have this room built? Or that they'd put me in it?" Ivo asked.

"The warden owes me a favor too. And this room was built to neutralize and contain either the Kryptonian or the Martian. Hence why the Martian's telepathy didn't work and why the Superman clone couldn't see me behind the door since this room is layered with lead. It's always good to be a forward thinker." She replied.

"I can see why you're so interested in him. He is exceptional." Ivo surmised.

"Yeah, well our clone will be better. And when he brings the Crow in, we just might let you perform a live dissection of him. There may be more secrets to unlock in his body." Waller informed. Ivo smiled evilly at the prospect of cutting The Crow up and seeing just what's on the inside.

* * *

"So what was that earlier?" Zatanna asked referring to what Itachi used to get Ivo to talk.

"It's called genjutsu. It's one of Itachi's abilities. He can use it to pretty much make people see or do what he wants. It's pretty effective." Robin answered.

"More like pretty scary. If you'd just waited I would have use my magic to force him to talk." She argued.

"It does not matter. We have the information we needed. Now, it's time we find the Reds. Black out all external communication. Soon, Canary and Zatara…Batman, too, I imagine will know of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time." Aqualad stated.

Robin and Artemis wanted to get a rundown on Zatanna's powers since they were still flying. Zatanna was a sorcerer like her father, but she was nowhere near his level of skill. She explained that she needed to know a spell perfectly or at least have time to properly prep in order to execute one. She couldn't do unlimited magic since it requires energy that comes from within so she only had a set number of spells in her. Itachi was quite curious about it since it's the closest thing he's heard to someone performing jutsu or using some form of chakra.

"What's our ETA to Yellowstone? I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor." Conner vented.

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Aqualad countered which got some eye rolls from some of the Team.

"Are you for real!? You're starting to sound like Itachi." Conner said angrily.

"Itachi is wiser than any of us. If he has doubt as to whether or not Tornado really betrayed us, I won't just brush it aside." Aqualad retorted while siding with Itachi. Itachi gave him a nod in gratitude.

"Even if he betrayed you, it would only make him a victim of his creators programming. I know firsthand about doing something horrible to someone I care about because I was forced to. I think you all should give him a chance to prove that he's not the dangerous weapon he was made to be. He was your supervisor, you own him that much. Besides, you of all people should know that we can be more than what we are created for." Itachi reasoned to Conner.

Everyone watched the scene nervously. They all saw Conner look down in shame and really begin to reconsider his position on this.

* * *

They all finally reached Yellowstone Park. As they landed Aqualad instructed them to go into stealth mode. They all got ready to go forth with their mission. Aqualad suggested to Zatanna that she might want to stay behind, but she made it clear that she was fully capable of handling herself. Aqualad allowed it and she used magic to get into her mission clothes.

They left the ship and started heading towards the Red's base. They were close to the destination when a gust of wind started blowing against them. They all looked up to see their former mentor Red Tornado getting ready to unleash another attack. The android summoned multiple tornadoes that surround the Team. M'gann tried to talk and reason with him, but the android gave no response except for more tornadoes. Conner stopped caring and decided to take some initiative. Itachi had a crow in the air as a scout just in case anything out of the ordinary happened.

He and Aqualad decided to use a combo attack to get to Tornado, but the android blew the pair away with his gusts of wind. Artemis shot some explosive arrows at him, but that too didn't get past his defense and was redirected towards her and Robin. Kid Flash tried to use his speed to create a tornado of his own and was soundly defeated. Before they knew it, only Itachi and Zatanna were left standing.

The sorcerer tried a spell, but started stammering due to lack of experience and found herself in the androids grasp. She quickly passed out due to lack of oxygen. Itachi thought fast and weaved hand signs for a fire technique, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

He shot a fireball towards the android to force it to release Zatanna. Red Tornado shot out gusts of wind to block the attack, but only wound up making it bigger and fiercer. It collided cleanly and knocked the android out of the sky. Back in his world, wind attribute jutsu only make fire attribute jutsu stronger, so Itachi is the worst type of opponent for Tornado. Plus, since he's fairly new the androids won't have any type of scouting report on his fighting style. While the android was down he went over to check on Zatanna who was still unconscious.

With all of his teammates down for the count, Itachi could only depend on himself against this opponent. After eyeing the android coldly, Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan and was preparing to activate his Susanoo like the first time they met when he saw another android appear.

It stood on a platform of earth and made its demands known, "That was quite a performance, brother. But we both know that's all that this has been. You can stop acting like you're really fighting Crow. Did you forget that I have all of your memories, Tornado? I even have a next-gen processor. I know your next move before you do."

Itachi dissolved his Susanoo and watched as the android used his geokinesis to raise a part of the ground up to expose the hidden message Tornado had written for them with using his powers and it read, "Play Dead."

The others got up from their ruse once the android read the message, "You thought blowing a message into the sand would save them? How human of you..." Red Volcano then broke the message into pieces and the Team leapt up to attack.

Crow, Superboy, and Aqualad all leapt into the air as the rest of the Team reacted quickly to avoid the falling debris. The members on the ground saw Red Tornado flying away as the battle ensued and made an attempt after him. Aqualad was knocked out of the sky by Volcano quickly. Wally decided to join the fight and sprint towards the android, but he too was neutralized.

"You stand no chance against me, filthy humans." Volcano scoffed.

"We're not human!" Superboy and Miss Martian yelled in a unison attack. Volcano made quick work out of them too when he used two gigantic rock hands to sandwich the two together. Volcano then made a correction, "Apologies. I suppose the properly inclusive term is meatbags."

"Try doing that to me." Volcano turned to see Itachi using his skeletal Susanoo to throw a gigantic punch at him. The android thought quickly and used the two rock hands to block the punch. It got smug with Itachi too, "A meatbag in a mask is still just a meatbag."

Itachi took that as permission to take this up a notch and decided to add some muscle onto his Susanoo. With the boost, Itachi's attack crushed through Red Volcano's defenses and sent him to the ground hard. The android stood up slowly just to be pummeled again except this time by a two-handed Susanoo hammer punch. The resounding force of the blow made a crater in the ground.

"Enough!" Volcano used his powers to create a chasm in the earth that Artemis and Aqualad fell into. Artemis was able to think fast and shoot an arrow up to propel her and Aqualad to safety before the fissure closed. Robin threw an explosive batarang at Volcano, who stood there and took it like it was nothing.

"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move." The android gloated.

"Emoks emoceb a dlofdnilb!" Zatanna casted as smoke wrapped around Volcano's eyes and blinded him. Itachi leapt from his Susanoo and added to the attack to make it a combination, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The fireball engulfed the android in searing hot flames. Zatanna looked at Itachi and smiled at their handiwork. The rest of the Team was also impressed.

"Take that for processing!" Robin yelled.

"Seriously, we've been training all week. They just met and already have crisper combinations than we do." Artemis complained.

"How did they get that off when we've been getting our butts kicked?" Conner asked with frustration.

"It's because they weren't here when Tornado was our supervisor. They wouldn't be in his memory which means Volcano has no countermeasure for either of them. They are our best shot." Aqualad answered.

"He's right. Tornado never knew my moves." Zatanna commented.

"And I bet you've got some good ones," Robin said. Both Zatanna and Itachi looked back at the boy wonder after his weird comment, "Whoa, sorry. That may have come off a little too Wally."

"I don't mind." Zatanna answered with a chuckle.

"Well I do. Focus on the mission. This is no time for flirting." Itachi scolded.

Volcano had had enough and decided to use his powers to activate an actual volcano that was dormant behind them. The Team all knew that this just went from bad to worse.

Red Tornado was inside his base with Red Torpedo and Red inferno trying to convince them to help his former students.

"We must stop him." Tornado pleads.

"Why? We once believed that we were alive, but now there is only Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. Why should we help save humanity when we are no longer human?" Inferno questioned.

"The premise of your question is flawed. You were never human, but you were heroes." Torpedo countered. His siblings looked at each other and made their decision.

* * *

Outside, the Team was busy facing a newly active volcano. The android was using the molten rocks from said volcano to unleash enhanced attacks at the Team. As bad as the android was, the volcano problem was infinitely worse.

" **He's activating a stage two eruption. If it gets to stage three, we can kiss the hemisphere good-bye."** Wally revealed.

" **Everyone hit him from all sides."** Aqualad ordered.

" **That's not wise to-"** Itachi was cut off as most of the Team leapt forward to attack. Volcano knocked Aqualad out of the sky and caught Superboy's punch with ease. He tossed Conner aside soon afterwards. Miss Martian used her invisibility to launch a sneak attack, but she was countered when Volcano caused a geyser of lava to erupt in front of her which wounded her. Conner tried to get to her, but was knocked away from Volcano. He could only watch as the android had his girlfriend hostage.

" **Can you cast a spell to get everyone close to me?"** Itachi asked. Zatanna nodded in confirmation, **"Do it now!"**

"Ward enoyreve raen ot eht Worc!" Zatanna commanded. Instantly everyone was pulled close to Itachi, including M'gann.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked.

"I'm ending this. Stay close M'gann, I'll shield you from the heat." Itachi promised. He then activated his Susanoo once more, only this time he went straight into its half-bodied humanoid form.

Everyone looked in awe as they found themselves surrounded by chakra. Zatanna was astonished, "I don't understand. Mystical energy isn't supposed to be able to be seen."

"This is no mystical energy. This is the Susanoo." Itachi stated. He summoned the curved sword of his Susanoo and got ready for the final attack, "This ends now."

"Giants. This dude can summon a giant. Why am I not surprised?" Wally complained from inside the Susanoo.

He launched the attack as Volcano shot molten rocks at his Susanoo in a race to see who lands first. Itachi was a few moments away when all of a sudden he heard something familiar. He deactivated his sword and just curled up for extra defense of his teammates. The sudden turn surprised them.

"Why did you stop your attack?" Conner demanded.

"This is no longer my fight." Itachi replied.

"What are you talking about?" Wally asked.

"Just look over there." Itachi answered as he pointed towards what he heard. A stream of water came out of the ground and smack Volcano into some lava. Robin turned to Aqualad with the assumption that the hit came from him, but he was just as surprised as everyone else.

As it turns out, the attack came from none other than Red Torpedo. Soon Tornado and Inferno joined the battle and started to attack Volcano. The three androids overwhelmed their brother with their combined might and forced him into a deep pool of lava. Torpedo and Inferno jumped in the lava to help submerge Volcano in order to destroy him once and for all. Tornado made the last push and joined them, fully prepared to sacrifice himself for his students. Volcano begged and pleaded, but the androids were ready to die there.

As Torpedo and Inferno started to meld into Volcano, Tornado was about to join them. Just as he was about to die, Itachi used his Susanoo to grab and pull him out of the lava, thus saving him. The volcano was on the verge of reaching level three and the Team was running out of options.

"Tornado, listen! We're on the verge of a stage three super volcano eruption. There's no turning back from that. We need to vent pressure, fast. But the ash cloud will bring on worldwide nuclear winter unless you divert it. Robin, triangulate around the pressure focus." Wally requested.

Robin did as was asked of him and marked it on his holo-gauntlet and Artemis marked the targets with her arrows.

"Don't worry about the Team. I'll protect them from the heat. Just get that volcano back to a stable condition," Itachi stated. He then reinforced his Susanoo by activating its Armor mode, "It's all up to you now Tornado."

Red Tornado used his power and vented the pressure out of the volcano and into the atmosphere. Once it was done, the volcano was no longer at risk of eruption. Tornado landed in a heap and the Team rushed to his aid. They decided to bring Tornado back to his base to repair the damages he suffered.

* * *

Wally repaired his voice box first so that he could finally speak again. Aqualad commented on how brave it was that Tornado was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save the planet. To which he corrected that he did it to save humanity, not the planet. Tornado also admitted that he wasn't the true hero, that it was his brother and sister that saved the day.

"Itachi was right. You were never the mole or a traitor." Aqualad admitted.

"I left to protect you from further attack and to find my creator, Morrow. Once the Crow arrived, I knew that I could depend on him to keep you safe. It seems I was correct in that assumption." Tornado noted.

Everyone looked back at Itachi who was off to himself so that they could have their reunion with their teacher. Aqualad agreed with Tornado in his assumption. Wally broke the solemnness when he made a comment about a souvenir he found in a broken down hand. Robin commented on how they would rebuild him even better than he was before, to which Tornado openly questioned if he should even be repaired.

"Why did you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" Conner asked.

"I was the pragmatic choice. I do not require sleep. I have no secret identity or second life to live." He answered.

"But you do have advanced A.I. programming designed to learn, adapt, and evolve." Wally added starting to catch on. Tornado wanted to become more human and since he wasn't going to do it with stiffs in the League, the next best option was the Team. Robin joked how Tornado wasn't going to learn emotion from Batman, or Itachi for that matter. Everyone laughed but Itachi who showed no outward reaction other than walking away.

Robin was about to go after him to apologize, but Artemis advised him to leave Itachi alone. She knew he had a lot on his mind.

Itachi was touched by how they accepted Red Tornado regardless of his flaws and apparent transgressions, but he wasn't so sure he'd get the same treatment should they find out the truth about him. Itachi knew that he actually was a traitor, a murderer. He wiped out an entire group of people; his people. Because of that fact, he's always careful not to get too attached to them, it just takes one mistake for him to lose it all again.

They flew home in the bioship and everyone was festive and happy, except for Itachi who was acting like someone kicked his puppy as Artemis says. Robin went to him and apologized for his crude joke, but Itachi smiled and assured him that he did nothing wrong. Almost everyone accepted that answer. Only two people had serious doubts: Artemis who has known him the longest, and M'gann who could feel the emotional conflict within her friend which worried her.

Zatanna had fun with the Team on her first mission, but doubted she'd ever be allowed to go on another because her father would be furious. They all decided to worry about that when they came to it and stay in their mostly positive mood.

* * *

Elsewhere, Argus was also in a very positive mood. The week deadline has passed and standing before James, Amanda Waller, and Ivo was none other than their fully operational clone of the Crow. There have been no signs of side effects or cellular defection. He was currently floating in a stasis tube, being fed surveillance footage, injury reports, memory adaptations, and emotional stimuli to provoke and harness the hatred in the clone.

It was being supplemented with only the best performance enhancement drugs and human growth hormones to produce peak performance in the field. When he is ready, the clone will be combat tested to see how much of the original it retained. And when he passed all of those tests, he will fight and capture the original Crow so that he can be studied further.

"I never thought we'd see it. There he is…just waiting to be unleashed. Can he hear us?" James wondered.

"Every word. All he can do is hear us though. His mind is too busy processing all of the information we had funneled into his cerebral cortex. My only concern is what is stopping the clone from turning into a Doomsday remake." Ivo voiced.

"I took care of that." A new person spoke.

"And here comes our mutual ally. You provided the blood sample, the blueprint to unlocking his sharingan along with its secrets, and most importantly a crash course of chakra network and how it works. You made our job a lot easier and this clone would not be possible if it weren't for you."

"Yes, I'm curious to know how you knew so much about him despite Crow being from a different universe." Ivo asked.

The person stepped out of the shadows to the reveal of the Masked Stranger, "Well, you'll just have to keep wondering for now. I only wish to fulfil my ultimate goal. You helped me achieve that by making this clone so it was an obvious choice to make."

"We take out the Crow for you; you leave his body with us." Amanda reminded.

"That was the deal. I don't need his body so I might as well leave it with you." The Stranger stated.

"How do your coconspirators feel about you dealing with us? Must be a serious betrayal." James taunted. The Masked Stranger responded by holding him up by his throat menacingly, "Make no mistake about it, my partners know about this. We are using you, not the other way around. How's the saying go…the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Itachi Uchiha is a mutual enemy that needs to be handled. I've been in the shadows setting this grand plan of mine for over a lifetime. Do you honestly think I'd leave something so important to you without a guarantee of me getting something out of it? I've already won; you just haven't figured it out yet. Now be a good grunt and do the one small thing I have entrusted you to do."

The Stranger dropped James who was fearfully gasping for air. His face had turned purple and he could feel his life being taken from him. Before fading into the darkness the Masked Stranger left James with a grave threat, "You mess this up for us and we will make sure your sister Carson finds out just what you do in your spare time James. And then we will kill her…slowly and in the most painful way imaginable. Think about every bad thing that has ever happened to the both of you so far in your wretched lives, then think about what hasn't happened to the both of you, now think about everything that could still happen to the both of you, James. I'll leave you to it then."

With that the figure disappeared. James looked up at Waller who looked down at him in return, "As soon as the Crow in eliminated, we will sick our clone on them and burn them all to the ground."

James smirked as he got up and eyed the clone, "You better not fail your mission. My sister's life depends on it."

They all left the room and only the clone was let in the darkness. It heard every word of the exchange, but for some reason it wasn't until his template was mentioned that he cared. He knew why he was created; to kill. He was vengeance, he was true justice, and he was the real Crow. And just like that his eyes opened to reveal eyes that had the sharingan activated. They had one tomoe in each eye and sclera that were pitch black. The only thoughts that ran through his mind were of him killing Itachi Uchiha, which made him smile.

* * *

That's the end of this one. The wheels are starting to turn and the plot is about to thicken. I know a lot of people are pushing back on a clone, but trust me when I say that the least important thing that this clone will do in the story is fight Itachi. Now, to the dilemma I face. I enlisted into the Navy, which means I will soon have to go to boot camp starting January the 4th. When I leave, I won't be abandoning the story, but I won't be able to upload another chapter until March at the earliest. I'd like your feedback on what I should do. I am definitely gonna upload another chapter by the end of the month…I'm just trying to decide whether or not to upload 2 chapters by the end of the month.

If you want me to upload 2 of them, let me know in the reviews/personal messages. The only thing with that is that it might not be my best work since I'd be rushing it out a little quickly and the next two chapters are really important to the story so I'd like them to get rave reviews. Or, I could just upload one and put my very best into it. Let me know what you all want me to do. Thanks for all of the support so far. I appreciate every favs, follow, and review and read all of them. I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Till next time peeps!


	19. Choice

The situation was dire. A spaceship had flown past the Earth's moon and was quickly heading towards the planet. Being the Lanterns of this planet, Hal Jordan and John Stewart decided to intercept it before it reached orbit and warn it to turn around. Batman tailed behind so that just in case it actually was an invasion, he could signal for back from the rest of the League.

Batman bore witness as his comrades were disintegrated by the alien spaceship. In retaliation he sent the signal for backup which consisted of Superman, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel. It proved to be of no consequence though because not long after deployment, all of the heavy-hitters got disintegrated too. Batman tried to escape, but a scout ship caught up to him and finally wiped him out and killed the last of them.

The entire Team witnessed the massacre. Red Tornado and Zatara knew that the celestial defenses were gone and that the ground division was the planet's only hope. Red Tornado turned to address the Team before going off to help the others.

"I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs. But should we fail, the responsibility falls to you." Tornado warned.

"We stand ready." Aqualad responded.

Red Tornado zeta-tubed away in order to join the fight soon afterwards. Everyone could only helplessly watch as the world was being ravished by the alien invaders. From Central City to Gotham and from Taipei to Metropolis, they watched as the Leaguers died and the cities fell. One by one Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, The Flash, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Icon, Atom, Aquaman, and more died. The last transmission the Team received was from Red Tornado. It was a message saying that he was the last of the League, but ultimately he too was killed by the invaders.

Itachi watched all of the carnage transpire with sadness. It reminded him of what the Third Great Ninja War and everything that transpired there too. He saw a live newsfeed of Gotham and witnessed as his adopted city burned. The specific area being focused on was Chinatown where he and Carson worked. Itachi felt so much rage at what was happening there. It was crystalized when he witness the mask shop he worked at be disintegrated right on screen.

' _The mission falls on us now. We must remain vigilante for the people of Earth.'_ Itachi thought with conviction. He looked up with his mangekyo sharingan activated and a will end this madness. Artemis saw the scene transpire too and shook her head at him. He remembered that when impossible situations like this occur, it was important to lean on the Team for support.

Doing this all alone would be the easy way out. It would only be him serving his own selfish cause. If he really wanted to honor the fallen, he'd seek justice instead. Not just for the Leaguers, but for the entire planet. He deactivated his sharingan and decided to wait for the Team to formulate a plan. They would do this together. Artemis nodded at her friend to show her approval at his choice.

"We are Earth's heroes now." Aqualad announced.

"So what are we waiting for then? A theme song?" Conner questioned.

"We need a strategy. We just witnessed Earth's mightiest heroes get wiped out with little effort. The same will happen to us if we go in blinded by our emotions. Earth's weapons are ineffective and it has been made abundantly clear that a direct assault on them won't succeed in anything other than our deaths." Itachi answered.

Robin pulled up satellite feed on the location of all of the aliens. Most of the ships were busy bombarding the major cities of the world. One, though, was off by itself over by Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Robin hypothesized that its power source must have been strong enough to attract the aliens' attention.

Conner was more hurt about Superman hiding something like this from him than concerned about planning, "I guess there's a lot about Superman that I'll never know now."

"I'm sorry." M'gann said.

"Stay focused on the mission Conner. We can mourn our loss later. I know this is difficult especially at a time like this, but we need to stay on task with the mission. For this to be a success, and all of us make it out of here alive, we need you." Itachi said trying to keep his teammates' mind where they needed to be.

"You're right. I'll try to stay focused." Conner offered. He and M'gann were shook by how cold Itachi sounded, but they knew he probably didn't mean for it to sound like that.

"We will target this lone ship." Aqualad announced.

"Yeah, break it down, build more, and hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo," Artemis hit Wally before he could say anything else stupid. She made sure to inform him of his blatant prejudice as the two resident aliens gave Wally a cold look, "Martian and Kryptonian in the house."

"Not that all aliens are automatically ugly." He said while trying his hardest to get the foot that he had surgically sewn into his mouth out.

* * *

The Team snuck into flanking position as one of the alien ships was standing guard of the entrance. Once in position, Miss Martian took out the ship's communication and propulsion systems while Artemis sealed the extraterrestrials using one of her clay arrows. Aqualad then emerged out of the water below and hopped onto the hull of the ship. It was about to blast him, but Superboy and Wolf saved him just in time. Itachi used his skeletal Susanoo to hold it in place with the help of Conner so that Robin was able to analyze and identify the weapons structural stress points and links to the ship. Once Identified, Itachi and Conner worked to remove the weapon. As the process unfolded though, the weapon charged up an attack that was aimed at Conner. Wolf noticed it and sacrificed itself in time to save its friend.

" **There was no indication of feedback. I'm sorry."** Robin expressed.

" **Can't do anything for him now. Let's go."** Conner responded. He and Itachi finished pulling the weapon out of the ship. Once it was removed, Miss Martian was able to reroute her ship so that it could integrate the alien weapon and use it. The only drawback with that was that they would be out in the open because the camouflage would have to be deactivated.

" **We don't have time. Reinforcements just arrived."** Itachi announced as he got his Susanoo ready.

" **Miss Martian, open fire now!"** Aqualad ordered.

" **I can't. Weapons systems are off-line to incorporate the new cannon. And that's not fully integrated yet either."** She responded.

" **I got you covered. Get inside I'm almost there. Crow, you're with me!"** Artemis said as she shot arrows at the reinforcements.

" **Got it."** Itachi upgraded his Susanoo to the half-bodied humanoid stage. As she shot her arrows, Itachi used the Yasaka Magatama to shoot them out of the sky. They both were able to take out two ships before having to retreat. While Artemis was running one of the ships activated its cannon and aimed it at Artemis.

" **Artemis! Behind you!"** Itachi warned but it was too late. He could only watch as his friend was killed in front of him. Miss Martian screamed her name as Artemis went up in smoke. Itachi responded by using the Yasaka Magatama in retaliation, but the ship's cannon blasted right through the attack and before he knew it, the shot made direct contact with his Susanoo. The others watched in horror as the orange giant disintegrated before them. M'gann was horrified.

"Artemis! Itachi!" She screamed.

"Artemis!" Kid Flash yelled as he saw his teammates go up in smoke.

"Get inside! All of you!" Aqualad ordered. Aqualad then used his powers to levitate the alien ship. The biggest fireball the Team had ever seen then obliterated the ship out of the sky. They all turned to see Itachi standing on top of a hill of snow. At the last second he had left his Susanoo before being disintegrated. He couldn't save Artemis though, which made him angry. But despite all of his anger, Itachi knew that the mission had to be finished so he needed to cast his feeling aside and be steady for the sake of the others. This was the first time any of them had lost a comrade in battle.

Everyone was either happy to see him or still mourning the loss of Artemis. Itachi wasted no time in proceeding forward. He could feel the rage radiating from Wally as he passed by him to head for the bioship. He heard the speedster declare that he'd kill every single alien if it was the last thing he ever did as everyone else looked on in grief.

* * *

"M'gann, stop crying. We still have a mission and must remain vigilant. Wally stop thrashing about. Artemis is gone. Get over it and focus on the mission. The world is still depending on us." Itachi scolded.

"Get over it? Get over it?! How dare you?! She was our friend and we just watched her die. You don't just get over something like that!" Wally yelled.

"The world is still at stake. Do you think Artemis would want you to mourn her or save her world? We all need clear heads in order to do that. I get it…you've never seen a friend die before, but a lot more people will die if we don't stop this threat. So get over it." Itachi replied calmly.

"How can you be so calm about this? Wasn't she the first person to befriend you out of all of us?" M'gann asked through tears.

"Yes she was, but I know that crying or thrashing won't do anything; planning and executing will. Until this mission is done I can't let my mind wander about what I could have done differently. I need to be ready at all times and so do all of you. She made a mistake and paid dearly for it. We can't repeat that or we'll all die." Itachi explained.

"Made a mistake?! She was murdered!" Wally yelled. He was in so much pain from seeing Artemis die.

"She turned her back on the enemy. Rule number one of combat is to always have your eyes on the opponent. It's such a simple mistake to make and it cost Artemis her life. We can't afford for you and M'gann to be so wrapped up in your hurt feelings that you make mistakes that could get yourselves killed. We've lost enough people today…" Itachi replied showing a crack in his steel demeanor.

"Itachi is right. There will be time to mourn later. We have a job to do now. We will defend the Earth and ensure that Artemis' sacrifice was not in vain." Aqualad announced.

They decided to go to the Hall of Justice to let the surviving humans know that there are still heroes that are defending them and that hope was not lost. They arrived in D.C. not long afterwards and were greeted by the site of a squadron of soldiers being attacked by three of the alien spaceships. Superboy and Crow leapt out of the bay doors of the bioship to neutralize the opposition. Superboy landed with power and ripped one of the ships apart, Crow launched a fireball jutsu at and incinerated the other, and Miss Martian's bioship blasted the final ship out of the sky. She also had the ship catch Itachi once he had taken out his target.

The Team landed in front of the group of soldiers and was met with cheers for being saved. The ranking general confused Conner for Superman at first, but Conner quickly denied the claim. The general responded how it didn't matter to any of them because Conner wore the 'S' on his shirt and got the job done which boosted Conner confidence. Aqualad relayed the plan to the general of salvaging as many alien cannons as possible before launching a counterattack.

They went into the Hall of Justice soon after to regroup and reflect on everything that has happened. They stared at the broken statues of the Justice League and felt somber about the depth of their losses.

"They're really gone…" Robin noted. M'gann floated to a statue of her uncle J'onn and started to break down in tears. In the middle of her crying she felt a familiar presence underneath the statue remains and lifted it up to reveal her uncle unharmed. She was about to rush to him when Itachi stopped her.

" **M'gann, check his mind. Make sure he is who he appears to be. We can't afford any more mistakes."** Itachi advised. It's not that he wasn't glad; he just didn't want to be caught off guard. Since they still had no idea about the abilities of their adversaries, he would make sure to be extra careful. Plus, something felt wrong to him and it has ever since they lost Artemis.

After checking through his mind M'gann confirmed that it was indeed her uncle. Conner still had his doubts though.

"But we saw you get disintegrated. You and Superman…and everyone!" He said while trying to get to the bottom of this.

"Yes I remember, but I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here." J'onn explained.

"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you." M'gann offered. She didn't care how it happened, she was just glad he was alive at all. Robin agreed with her theory and added that the beam probably messed with his head while in mid phase.

"My mind is clouded. I feel certain that I had something important to tell you." J'onn said while pondering what it was that he was supposed to tell them. Itachi found this story to be troubling. It did nothing to wipe the feeling that something big was seriously wrong, it only made things feel worse, _'People just don't come back from the dead on a fluke. J'onn should be dead…I saw it myself. So why is he standing before me now and what did he have to say?'_

Wally had an idea based off of this revelation and had Robin scan the alien cannon. Robin found out that the cannon was giving off zeta-tubes meaning that no one was disintegrated; they were all teleported somewhere. He shared the same thought as some of the others of being hopeful that Artemis and the others were still alive.

"That must have been what you wanted to tell us." M'gann figured as she was elated from the news. Itachi still had his doubts because if that were true, why was J'onn the only one sent here and why can't they sense anyone else that was hit?

Reinforcements had arrived and started to blast outside of the Hall of Justice. M'gann and J'onn tried to shield the bioship, but the blasts sent them backwards because of the psychic link to the ship when it was hit. Conner ran to check on her and saw that she had tears in her eyes because the hit the ship took did not feel like a zeta-tube to her; it felt like dying.

The Team and the soldiers had to fall back deeper into the Hall. They were all currently holed up in the Hall's library. Aqualad came up with a plan to zeta-tube back to the Cave, but because of lack of clearance, J'onn could only send one person at a time. The general refused because he knew that the Team was the world only hope of survival. He was willing to sacrifice himself and his men for them.

J'onn quickly sent M'gann and Robin in first. He opened and was about to send Wally next when the aliens breached the Halls and began attacking. Itachi and Conner started buying time for their teammates. Wally was about to join then, but never got the chance because Aqualad threw him into the zeta-tube to save him.

Conner went and saved a soldier that was trapped under debris while Itachi laid covering fire down with his Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Conner made sure that the soldier was transported to the Cave next since he was injured. Aqualad ordered that Conner followed soon after which left only him, J'onn, and Itachi left. Itachi couldn't use his Susanoo as a defense because it would cause a cave-in and trap the survivors. It didn't take long for the aliens to eradicate each of the soldiers one by one. The heroes were on borrowed time.

"Itachi, take J'onn to the other side. They need you more than they need me!" Kaldur ordered. Itachi threw J'onn in the zeta-tube, but didn't go in after and abandon Aqualad.

"Aqualad this is no time to play hero. We need-" He didn't get to finish because Aqualad was blasted by the alien and killed. The impact from the blast sent Itachi into the zeta-tube against his will. Itachi had once again failed in saving a friend.

* * *

Once what was left of the Team had gotten back to the Cave, they quickly went to discuss the next course of action. Itachi and Robin assumed joint leadership and came up with the best plan all circumstances considering. Itachi lost the fight on not wasting time trying to find dead people to the others.

"Our next mission is clear. If we believe the aliens have been teleporting victims-"

"We do." Wally interjected.

"Then the only reasonable detention facility is here. Their mothership that is currently on top of what used to be Smallville. Ring any bells?" Robin finished.

"No, I'm sorry." J'onn answered.

"Superboy, you'll create a distraction for us while we infiltrate the mothership." Itachi said while going over the details of the plan.

"No! They're offering you up as a sacrifice. Aqualad would never do that!" M'gann argued.

"What Aqualad has done is left us compromised." Robin replied firmly. She was about to respond when Itachi interceded on Robin's behalf.

"Aqualad is dead. He's dead because he made the mistake of valuing being the hero over being the leader. Now we have no leader. Superboy and myself are the most likely to be perceived as a threat. We can't be in the same place at once. It'll motivate the aliens to deploy at our location and slaughter all of us. It's time to grow up and make some tough decisions. The needs of the world outweigh the needs of the individual members of the Team." Itachi rebutted.

"The worst case is that he's teleported inside. We will set him free along with Artemis…and Aqualad and the others." Wally reasoned.

"The worst case is that Conner dies. I know you're all hoping for a happy ending but you need to be prepared for the fact that this mission may not go the way you hope it will. This is what the real world looks like." Itachi warned. Wally did not like that statement one bit from Itachi.

"What's your problem?! I'm just trying to have some hope here. We don't know that Artemis is dead and we don't know that Conner will die either for that matter, but you just seem so eager to read her obituary." Wally shouted.

"I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. I've already accepted how this may turn out; good or bad. How are you going to solve this problem when you won't even acknowledge that there is a problem to solve?" Itachi asked.

"Saving Artemis is the problem!" Wally yelled.

"What happens when you find out that she can't be saved? That you were wrong and your mistake could get the rest of us killed too. Are you that selfish, or is it arrogance?" Itachi wondered.

"The only selfish person I see is you! You're only thinking of yourself! Why is saving Artemis and the others so stupid to you? Oh I have an idea, why don't you cause the distraction since you're so strong and seem to know everything? You make the sacrifice then! You won't though because you don't care! You may be on the Team, but you are no Aqualad! You're no hero!" Wally shouted passionately.

"Yes, because Aqualad was so heroic that he wound up dead. I have to be ready to pick up the pieces when this plan fails…when you fail." Itachi responded both calmly and coldly. Itachi then shook his head and walked away. He had no time to deal with children that were wrapped in their feelings. All he could do was prepare and try to finish the mission with or without help.

Robin, M'gann, and Conner were all shocked by the huge blow up. It was mostly Wally yelling, but Itachi's cold words hurt more than any insult Wally hurled at him. They all had the same question; if he cared about his friends, why won't he even attempt to try and save them. Seeing this infighting within the Team caused J'onn sadness and made him wish he knew what message he had to deliver.

Conner made sure to let M'gann know that he was okay with the plan because it would be what Superman would do, Wally went off by himself to cool off, and Robin went over the plan in his head again. This was mostly his plan and he refused to let his teammates die because of it. After he was done, Robin decided to talk to Itachi to try and smooth things over between him and Wally.

Itachi's troubles about this whole situation have only grown now. Itachi knew he was cold to Wally and that he should be hoping to find his friends alive, but in a battle where the loser of this dies; he couldn't afford to concern himself with their feelings or false hope. Perhaps one day, if they make it out of this, he'll tell them why he's like this and why finishing the mission is the only option left. His experiences in life have taught him to plan for the best, but expect the worse. He didn't expect to find anyone alive at all. The aliens have made no demands, only destruction. Itachi expects to find a war and he will be ready to use any option available in order to end this war. War doesn't leave prisoners, it leaves only corpses.

The Team relayed a joint message for keeping hope to the Earth. They assured that even if just one of them were left fighting, that that alone was enough to keep hope alive. They swore that the people of Earth would survive, rebuild, and thrive once more. They promised that heroes would rise up to replace the fallen ones and that the Earth would never surrender. Itachi was the only one missing from the joint message. He had no interest in inspiring hope in people; he wanted to get to the bottom of his bad feeling and more importantly, reign down fear on the aliens who invaded his planet and killed his friends.

' _I need to protect my friends. I'll do whatever it takes.'_ Itachi thought while blood dripped down his face as his mangekyo sharingan activated. Robin came in the room to go over the plan with Itachi. He showed the schematics to Itachi so that he knew the ins and outs of it. Itachi was shocked by the details of it. Robin had a gloom look on his face from what the plan was. Itachi assured him that he would follow through with it no matter what.

* * *

They were close to the mothership in Smallville. The Team used the cover of the night to sneak close and scout the ship. Pretty soon they would attack and try to save anyone that was captured. This was, on the surface, a search and rescue mission.

"Stay close to J'onn. He's still iffy," Robin whispered to M'gann. She nodded as confirmation. The Team decided that it would be best if Robin led the mission since it was mostly his plan, "First team deploy!"

M'gann and J'onn flew up and used invisibility to sneak pass the motherships defenses. They infiltrated the mothership and waited for the next phase. Superboy then proceeded with the next phase and started attacking the exterior of the mothership. He got control of one of the cannons and started blasting all of the other weapons so that Robin, Kid Flash, and Crow could make it in safely. Once all of the alien ships deployed to attack Superboy, the others sprinted into the hatch bays where the alien ships were launched.

Once inside, the three of them traversed the mothership, being extra careful not to be spotted by the enemy. Itachi made sure to give Robin a nod of confirmation of what they had theorized back at the Cave in private, at which Robin replied with a nod also. That nod meant that there was horrible news to deliver. An alien was about to spot them when Miss Martian quickly destroyed it and saved their cover.

Outside Conner was being overwhelmed. After giving a last ditch effort to distract the aliens, he was disarmed of his cannon and ultimately killed by an alien blast. M'gann immediately felt the results of Conner's death and collapsed in grief.

" **No, he's gone."** She said sadly.

" **It's alright. We'll find him with Artemis, I know it."** Wally consoled. Itachi felt that bad feeling getting worse again and was beginning to form a hypothesis based off of a pattern he noticed. He wasn't 100% sure he was right. If he was wrong about his theory, it would cost everyone their lives.

" **No, my mind is clear now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility. No prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose."** J'onn revealed.

Itachi took that as confirmation for part of his theory. Itachi kept his theory to himself because he didn't want to give false hope to the others in case he was wrong and for the next part to be confirmed, something terrible would have to happen. Itachi weaved the hand signs needed for the jutsu that would either save or doom everyone. Itachi just hoped that he was right about this feeling as he felt is chakra drastically drop to dangerous lows.

" **No, you're wrong! The zeta radiation proves she's alive,"** Wally argued. Robin got a hold of his friend to lay down the terrible truth, **"Stop it KF! I've been scanning for League and Team signals since we got inside. I even had Crow scan for chakra signatures even beforehand. Neither of us got any type of signal. They're not here…Artemis is gone."**

" **I'm sorry Wally. I really hoped that you were right about Artemis and the others. But our mission still has purpose. We must destroy this mothership at all costs."** Itachi offered.

He and Robin walked away to proceed with the plan. M'gann conveyed her sadness for and with Wally by putting a hand on his shoulder. But in the end, she too knew that they had to follow through with the plan.

They made it to the room that was holding the power core. The plan was to blow it and the mothership sky high. As they moved to get into better position to the core, Wally and Robin were magnetically pulled against their wills. Robin thought fast and used his grapple gun to latch onto a surface before they were pulled all the way in. An alien scout saw them and was about to attack, but was stopped when Itachi and his Phoenix Flower Jutsu incinerated it.

M'gann then used her telekinetic powers to lower Robin and Kid Flash safely down onto a platform. Robin then started prepping for the final stage of the plan as M'gann, Itachi, and J'onn stood watch. Wally realized something as the final stages were coming to a close.

" **You knew, both you and Itachi. You knew from the very beginning why you were really here. You never thought that she could be alive. You sided with Itachi."** Wally said accusingly as the hurt and disappointment showed.

" **We have four minutes. Let's go."** Robin answered as he was focused on the mission. There was no side to take. There was right and there was wrong. This mission proved that Itachi was right and Wally was wrong, and that's the end of the discussion. The extra gear he packed with him was detonation charges.

They all made a move to the door but it was sealed shut. Alien scouts also arrived to prevent the heroes from escaping. Everyone had to get into cover as the aliens shot at them. They only had a limited amount of time before the charges blew which meant hard choices had to be made.

" **Sixteen seconds and counting. Crow, you have to escort Manhunter and Miss Martian out of here safely."** Robin ordered.

Itachi nodded as he sprinted to the other side to join with the Martians. M'gann refused to abandon them, but Itachi reminded her that he was the leader and that she should follow his orders. M'gann gave a final sigh of sadness and phased her teammate and uncle out of the ship.

They emerged safely just in time to see the ship, and her friends, blow up in a blazing inferno. Itachi went over to console her, but she turned away from him. M'gann didn't want to hear it.

" **Don't…don't tell me that the mission was a success. The price was too high,"** She rebutted feeling the grief for her friend washing over her **, "Why? Why didn't you use your Susanoo to protect them? You could have saved them."**

Itachi knew that his theory was indeed correct after the destruction of the mothership. That meant that there was only one road left to take. Just then a second mothership had arrived and Itachi knew that it was now or never, "Because if I had it wouldn't have saved them. I had already used up too much chakra and I needed the last of it to do this. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for wha-," She was cut off when a giant orange sword had impaled her chest. She turned and saw that Itachi had used his Susanoo on her. She also noticed that one of his eyes looked like it had lost its vision. M'gann shed tears as she felt her life begin to fade. As her life began to fade and the world went black, the last thing M'gann heard was her uncle J'onn asking Itachi how he knew and Itachi replying that everything just felt wrong again.

* * *

M'gann woke up suddenly back inside of the Cave. She saw that Conner, Wolf and all of the others were with her and safe.

"You're all alive!" She exclaimed.

Itachi was checking his left eye and saw that everything was indeed fine. He was exhausted and could barely stand, but everything was back to the way it was. Batman checked on J'onn and asked what happened in there, to which he replied that the exercise went wrong.

Everyone on the Team but Itachi was shocked hear that it was just an exercise. Batman explained that it was indeed a training exercise. It turns out that Manhunter psychically linked their minds into an artificial reality and that they all knew this going in. It was concealed from everyone that it was a train for failure exercise. That means that no matter what they accomplished, the reality would shift on design and grow worse. But they were supposed to be aware that none of it was real, including the deaths of the higher Justice League.

"It's why none of us grieved after witnessing their deaths. Not even when Wolf was disintegrated before our very eyes. But it all changed when Artemis died. I didn't recognize it immediately, but after her death the exercise stopped feeling like an exercise; it felt like our reality. M'gann made it so." Itachi elaborated.

Itachi felt bad because it sounded like he was blaming her, but he really wasn't. Manhunter further elaborated, "Though consciously she knew it wasn't real, M'gann's subconscious mind could not tell the difference. She had forgotten that it was only an exercise. When that happened her subconscious took control and made all of you forget too because you were all linked telepathically."

"I-I'm…I'm s-so sorry." She apologized. Conner defended her and said that it wasn't her fault. He then turned towards J'onn and asked why he didn't turn the exercise off.

"We tried, but M'gann had a death-grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed that she slipped into a coma. I realized that I would have to wrest control of Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed with your collective emotion. There was too much noise to think clearly…to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Conner helped, but it wasn't until the mothership exploded, and Robin and Kid Flash was silenced, that my mind cleared enough to remember my original purpose; to shock M'gann out of the exercise until your comas became permanent. When I was about to make my move, Itachi had already impaled M'gann. He figured out what was really transpiring and ended the exercise."

"But how did you figure it out?" Batman asked.

"I had my doubts all the way back when Artemis died. I felt a seismic shift and started to get a feeling, like something was wrong besides seeing my friend die. As the mission continued, and more of the Team perished, the feeling got worse. When we discovered J'onn, but not anyone else, I knew something was wrong. If people were really just being teleported, why was Manhunter the only one we could sense? I had the opposite effect as Manhunter; his mind got clearer with each death, but my mind got cloudier. I got the same feeling when Conner and Aqualad died that I did when Artemis passed and hypothesized that something must have warped reality. I couldn't be sure until it happened again though. So I took a gamble and used a forbidden technique called the Izanagi. For the loss of eyesight in one of my eyes I am allowed to distort reality around me. In short, if there was anything warped about the reality around me I could shift it so that everything was back to how I wanted it to be. Once I did that, the bad feeling I had went away. I remembered that it was just an exercise, but I couldn't tell you all. You were all too wrapped inside the reality and I still needed to be sure that it was M'gann who was causing it. When the mothership blew and M'gann was wrapped in grief over the loss of Wally and Robin, I started to forget that it was just an exercise again. After that I confirmed that she indeed was changing reality and that I needed to stop her. I figured there no bigger shock than dying so with the last of my chakra, I killed her. It's why I apologized." Itachi explained.

"Why did you get the feeling though and not us?" Robin asked.

"I know what it feels like to have reality around me feel distorted. It felt like being inside of an elaborate genjutsu. It's why my eyesight returned. Nothing that happened in that world was real or held any weight at all." Itachi answered.

"Yeah now that I think about it, being in that world did feel like when you put me in that genjutsu." Conner agreed.

"My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous…so damaging." J'onn said. He noted to the other Leaguers that it wasn't his nieces fault. He claimed that all of this was their fault. Batman agreed and noted how they gravely underestimated her. J'onn revealed that in terms of telepathic power, M'gann's mind is the strongest he has ever encountered. He said that it was by far stronger than his.

M'gann left the room in shock and decided that she wanted to be alone. Everyone was reluctant to console her, but Itachi still got up and tried anyways. He would never abandon a friend in need.

* * *

Itachi saw M'gann on a balcony crying alone. He knew that she took the training exercise hard since she felt responsible for all of the chaos that happened while inside the exercise. No one blamed her at all; it was just a teachable moment. Itachi didn't care about the state of her powers though. He only cared about the state of her emotions.

He walked up to her slowly as she sobbed. She felt Itachi presence and turned to address him, "Go away. I just want to be alone. I can't hurt anyone that way."

"No, I'm not going anywhere." Itachi replied.

"I said go away!" She railed on him. She turned back around and went back to crying. Itachi kept persisting and sat next to her on the balcony as they stared at the sunset. She looked at him and felt so much guilt, "I'm so sorry. I ruin everything."

"You didn't ruin anything. You did nothing wrong. It was the League's fault for letting it get that far and putting you in that position. I should be the one apologizing." Itachi said honestly.

"For what? I don't blame you for killing me. If you hadn't, I could have killed Artemis for real." She argued.

"I'm not sorry for impaling you. It was needed to be done for both your sake and our friends'. I'm sorry for how insensitive I was towards your feelings. You were hurt about Artemis, but I disregarded them for the mission so easily. That was wrong of me." Itachi admitted.

"I don't blame you. You were right about everything. I should have stayed focused on the mission. If I had, none of that would have happened. How do you do it? How do you stay so calm during missions in the face of so much adversity?" She asked.

"I wish I could tell you something extravagant, but it's really just time and experience. My clan starts teaching children how to control their powers and react to real world situations at a young age. You'll get better with time, I promise. " Itachi said while smiling at her.

"I don't know. How are the others ever supposed to trust me again?" She asked nervously.

"They won't. Not until you learn to trust yourself. How can you focus on completely controlling your powers when your focus is split 50/50 between controlling your powers and controlling your looks?" Itachi asked knowingly.

"W-What do you mean," She asked nervously. Itachi pointed out towards the sky ahead of them, "You haven't noticed that those same three birds have flown by for the past five minutes the exact same way at least ten times yet? We've been in a genjutsu ever since you turned to look at me; for privacy of course. No one will hear any of this, especially Conner."

"You know about us?" She asked now embarrassed. He nodded at her.

"You both need to practice on your stealth." Itachi said trying to lighten her mood. He could still tell she was down.

"I guess you're right." M'gann admitted.

"I don't know what you really look like, and I don't really care. You're my friend no matter what. I just want you to be comfortable with who you are. If that means looking like this, then so be it. But if you are to get full control of your powers, you need to accept yourself for who you are. Both the good and the bad." He advised.

"But how do I do that when the bad looks like such an ugly monster?" She asked.

"By remembering that the good looks so beautiful. You look beautiful. Your kindness, your spirit…everything. That's how you accept it. That's what dealing with my clan has taught me at least." Itachi answered in the best way he could. M'gann hugged him for his kind words.

"Thank you. I'll try to remember that. What's this clan that you keep bringing up?" She asked curiously. Itachi sighed before answering. This is a pivotal moment that could change everything.

"My clan is my family basically. Where I come from, groups of people are divided into villages, which are made up of several family clans." He explained.

"I don't think I get it." She said.

"Think of the village as one big circle of life, and in that circle are a bunch of smaller squares. That is what a village is; a bunch of smaller squares that are molded together to make one big circle. There are positives and negatives to that formula. One of the negatives is that the squares towards the edge of the circle have to be cut off at a point, or the circle will be uneven and left vulnerable. My clan was unfortunately one of those squares." Itachi explained.

"What do you mean by cut off? What happened to your clan?" She asked. Itachi looked down in shame. He didn't know if telling her was for the best, but if there was anyone on the Team who would be his first choice, that person would definitely be M'gann. She seems like the most likely to understand how complicated a situation he was put under because of her compassion. He found his resolve and decided to tell her…everything.

"This is something I can't just put into words. I have to show you. But before I do, promise me that you won't tell the others. This is something I wish to do on my own." He stated.

"I promise. You make it sound like this is something big. It's not going to change you and I being friends Itachi." She told him as she grabbed his hand in support.

"You say that now, but wait until you see everything. I'm the real monster here." Itachi said sadly.

"What are you talking about? You've done nothing but save me and the others since we've met. You're more of a hero than any of us." She reasoned.

"I'm no hero at all..." Before she could respond Itachi changed the environment of the genjutsu. It changed to when he was a four year old child walking through a land filed with corpses with his father. M'gann then witnessed one terrible atrocity committed after another as she watched Itachi's life unfold. She saw everything; every sin, every lie, every reason, and every death. Before she knew it, tears yet again filled her eyes. By the time the genjutsu was over, and she was greeted by the site of two brothers saying goodbye and witnessing her friend fade away in a golden light. After that she collapsed to her knees in sadness and sorrow.

She looked up at Itachi who stared forward with sorrow, "You went through all of that? Itachi, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. Everything happens for a reason. Despite all of that, I still found joy and purpose in my life." He replied.

She hugged him again. She saw horrible things in Itachi's past. It explains why he is the way he is now, "You're not a monster. That world you grew up in is the real monster. I wish you had been born to this one."

"Me too." He replied as he ended the genjutsu they were in. He ended the hug but still kept smiling at his friend, "Keep your head up M'gann. Things get better, I know it."

"I will. You've been through so much, and yet you still smile. You truly amaze me Itachi. And don't worry about the others; your secret is safe with me." Itachi nodded before leaving her.

Just as he left, her uncle J'onn was about to come up to talk to her about her powers. He was about to say something when something powerful entered his mind. Against her will, J'onn had seen everything that M'gann had, including the truth about Itachi's origin and past. M'gann had it at the forefront of her mind so much that J'onn only had to be near her to see what she was thinking about.

He left immediately with haste and went straight to Batman to relay what he had just seen in his niece's mind. Batman growled before giving his response, "Call all Justice League members. We'll give the Team a week to move past what just happened, but after that we will call everyone in and discuss what to do about Itachi. He must explain himself or there will be consequences."

* * *

A week has passed since the training exercise gone wrong and most of the Team was still reeling from it. Conner felt guilty because of how the reality made him finally feel like Superman. Even when his friends died, he still kept enjoying the thrill of it all which confused him.

Robin felt discouraged from the experience. Though he always wanted to be leader, when the opportunity came he felt unprepared to make the sacrifices needed in order to do that and which to no longer be a leader of anyone.

Wally was in denial about how Artemis's death really impacted him.

Artemis felt reluctant after the experience. She had no desire to reveal secrets that she is keeping from the others because she didn't know how they'd react, especially Wally. She was confused why she cared about his opinion above everyone else's.

M'gann still felt guilt for the whole experience, even after Itachi talked to her. She did take his advice about not fighting against herself, but that was going to be a very slow process. All in all what really concerned her was the looks her uncle was giving both her and Itachi. In fact, the whole League got silent whenever Itachi was around.

Itachi didn't really have a strong reaction to it. It just served as confirmation to him that the Team still had a ways to go, but when he showed M'gann his past and she didn't reject him, he felt something that he hadn't in a long time; hope towards a better tomorrow.

Aqualad felt disappointed in himself. He talked to Batman and expressed interest in passing the role of leader to someone else. The reason for that was because of how he acted during the simulation. In his eyes he acted more like a soldier than a leader. The only problem was picking a suitable replacement. Artemis is too raw and untrusting, Kid Flash is too rash and impulsive, Miss Martian is too eager to please and incapable of making hard choices under pressure, Superboy is blinded by his anger too often, and Robin is too young. Itachi was his choice of succession in the end. He is experienced, skilled, respected, calm under pressure, and a natural born leader. But when Kaldur went to Batman for his approval, he denied it and told him that the Team was to meet with the League to discuss something important.

He realized that it must have been of the up most importance because the entire Justice League was in the room. He and his Team were all confused as to why this meeting was taking place. Batman took the lead and explained everything.

"This meeting is transpiring because we came across damning information about a member of the Team. Being fair, we will allow this person to defend themselves, but if we don't find the answer to be satisfactory, it will result in the immediate termination of membership here." He started.

This caught everyone's attention. They all assumed that they found out who the mole was, so when Manhunter stepped up and pointed towards Itachi it took everyone for surprise.

"You have been keeping something very important from us. Would you care to explain why when I read my niece's mind that all I saw were images of you slaughtering people left and right? Who are you, and I want the whole truth." J'onn demanded.

Everyone on the Team turned towards Itachi as the Justice League glared ahead at the vigilante. M'gann started to cry and proclaim that she had no idea her uncle read her mind. Itachi put her worries at ease and told her he didn't blame her. He knew this day would come, he just wished that it didn't happen like this.

' _If they want the truth, I'll give them the truth. No more concealing who I am and why I'm here. This is my life and my choice.'_ He thought with conviction.

* * *

That's it for this chapter! I hope you all like it. Thanks for all of the faves, follows, and reviews. It was split pretty much down the middle between stick with one or go for two. I'll try to write and finish the second chapter before I leave. If I don't finish, or I'm not satisfied with its quality, I'll just upload an author's note letting you all know to wait until March. I promise that I will continue this story. I hope you all like this chapter and thanks again for the support! Till next time peeps!


	20. Mercy

Everyone on the Team stood shocked at Martian Manhunter's accusation. Wally was about to comment about it being a good joke until Artemis poked him with her elbow to stop him. He saw the serious looks on the faces of the Justice League and knew that they were being serious. Wally wasn't too fond with Itachi at the moment, but even he didn't think that the vigilante was a murderer.

M'gann felt horrified and betrayed. She was horrified for Itachi and what this could mean to him. If the League or their teammates decide that Itachi is just a murderer without taking in the circumstances he was put in, he could be taken off the Team. She also felt betrayed that her uncle would read her mind against her will. It was a complete invasion of privacy. Even though Itachi indicated that he didn't blame her, M'gann still felt guilty for this happening.

Kaldur didn't know what to make out of all of this. Murder was a pretty serious accusation to be throwing around, but he doubts that the League would have made such a dramatic showing of this unless they were absolutely sure. Conner was shocked by this meeting. He figured that they wanted to spring this on them suddenly so that Itachi wouldn't have time to properly defend himself against them. Conner decided that he would need proof before believing anything else said by the Leaguers. Robin seemed to agree with that sentiment as well.

"What proof do you have of this?" Robin asked. As of this moment, he would presume that Itachi was innocent of these accusations until proof was provided.

"One week ago, my niece and Itachi were having a conversation. During that conversation Itachi divulged the origins of his past. Itachi revealed that he is not of this world and that he has committed atrocious crimes in his past. M'gann can cosign this as true." Manhunter answered.

"But you don't know the whole story. This is why he was so hesitant to reveal his past. That's such a small part of it Uncle J'onn." M'gann said while trying to defend her friend.

"So you're admitting that he did do the things J'onn is accusing him of. We cannot condone murder for any reason. No story on Earth can change that." Superman said while gazing at the young Martian. Truthfully, he wished that J'onn was wrong about Itachi. He liked the young man and thought he could be a future pillar for the Justice League, but his stance on murder was final.

"But he isn't from this world! He's not even from this universe. The world he comes from is so dark and evil. I saw it firsthand. Itachi didn't have a choice and it killed him to do what he did." She said passionately.

"Wait, you're from another universe? Why didn't you ever say something?" Wally asked.

"We would not have judged you either way. We are your friends." Aqualad said. When Itachi didn't offer any explanations, M'gann spoke up on his behalf.

"It's complicated. We probably wouldn't have believed him anyways. But he's not guilty." She pleaded.

"Why doesn't he defend himself if he's so innocent? What do you have to say Itachi?" Batman asked. Everyone turned to Itachi and waited for his answer. The former shinobi had been silent throughout the entire exchange. No one could get a read on him, not even Artemis. Though Robin and Itachi had the best combat chemistry, Artemis and Itachi were the closest in terms of friends everywhere else. That's why Artemis was hurt that Itachi felt more comfortable talking to M'gann about his past than he did her. She'd known him the longest, or at least she thought she knew him. But even with the hurt she was feeling, Artemis wanted to hear it come from Itachi before she believed a single word that was said.

"Itachi you need to say something. Why aren't you denying anything? None of this is true unless you say it is as far as I'm concerned. Itachi you-" Artemis was cut off by words that she doubted that she'd ever forget.

"It's the truth." Itachi answered to everyone on the Team's hock. Robin and Wally had to take a minute to process what they just heard.

"So you're saying that you really did murder a bunch of people?" Wally asked incredulously. He felt himself getting angrier and angrier, but even still he wasn't as angry as Robin was at this revelation.

"Murderer. Itachi you're just a murderer. We let you on the Team…in our family, and you lied to us." Robin accused angrily.

"He didn't lie about a thing and it's not that black and white. Itachi had no choice. His life was a living hell from birth." M'gann said sadly while remembering the bloody images she saw a week ago.

"I don't care! Heroes don't kill! I thought Itachi was a hero, but man was I wrong about him. We were all wrong about him." Robin said with as much venom in his voice as he could muster.

"M'gann he can't stay on the Team. That's final." Wally said. M'gann was getting desperate and felt like her friend was getting ganged up on. Luckily for Itachi and her, they hadn't lost all of their allies.

"Look, I don't know what Itachi did in his past nor do I care. I have no right to judge him wanting to keep it secret either, and neither do any of you. I can only judge Itachi on what he's done since I've known him and all he's done is saved all of our butts. He even saved Gotham…by himself!" Artemis added coming to her friend's defense. She wasn't the only one.

"M'gann says that Itachi had no choice. Why isn't her word good enough?" Conner asked.

"It's hard to accept any defense of Itachi when Itachi himself has yet to defend himself. In fact, all he has done is admit guilt." Wonder Woman replied.

"Guilt? A word that suggests that I did something wrong or that I failed in an obligation. In the macro, I guess you could say that I am guilty. I wish I could have done things differently. But in the micro, I did the right thing and held true to my obligations. I saved my village and my brother. I'd do anything to keep both of those things safe…anything. " Itachi said. He wasn't trying to excuse what he did at all. Itachi knew that for them to form a just conclusion about him, he'd have to explain everything.

"What were your obligations Itachi? I will not judge you until I hear your side of the story from your own mouth." Aqualad promised.

Itachi sighed to himself as he stepped forward until everyone was looking at him. He activated his sharingan and prepared a genjutsu for everyone to see, "There are no sides to this story. There is only the truth. That's all I can show you and when you're done, then you can cast your judgments. I don't care if you think of me as a hero or a murderer. I can be both of those things if that's what is required of me. That is what the Will of Fire is; the ability to protect one's village against all threats."

"You sure that you weren't the threat to this 'village'," Wally said as a sarcastic jab at Itachi.

"No, I'd die for my village….for my brother," Itachi then activated his genjutsu and everyone saw their surroundings change. M'gann knew exactly what was happening and what they were about to see, but even in knowing what was ins store from having seen it already, she still couldn't help by feel her heart break all over again, "This is the truth about the failure named Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf Village."

* * *

 _(Itachi's Earth)_

" _This is my home…my world." Itachi said as everyone looked around. They were no longer in the conference room of the Cave. They are now in what looks like a battlefield of sorts, and it was riddle with corpses. Everyone was shocked to see just how many dead men, women, and children there were here. Manhunter dropped to a knee from all of the mental turmoil he was feeling, "What is this? Did you do this?"_

" _No Uncle J'onn, Itachi didn't do this. Right now Itachi's world is fighting in a giant war. These are the casualties of a battle." M'gann explained._

 _Everyone was horrified at the scene around them. Everything from the missing limbs to the cold stares of children that looked like they could be the ages of any member on the Team absolutely horrified them. Some of the children looked like they couldn't have been any older than 12 years old. The members of the Team were especially shook. Most of them had never even seen a dead body before, let alone a field of corpses._

" _This isn't a battle…this is a catastrophe." Superman commented as he wished he was here to stop such a thing from occurring._

" _No, it's just war. It's what one day of war in my world looks like. During this time we were fighting in the Third Great Ninja War. It's our version of your Earth's World Wars, except we've had three of them and are currently fighting a fourth one the last time I checked." Itachi explained._

" _Four World Wars?! What type of archaic world do you come from?" Hal Jordan asked._

" _The kind that has no problem sending children to fight and die for the sake of adults. I didn't grow up in an ordinary setting like all of you were. I was born in war…in the golden age of killing. Look over there and you'll see what type of world this really is." Itachi said while pointing over a boy that was walking through the corpses._

" _Who is that?" Artemis asked. They all walked over to see the boy kneeling down and giving one of the fallen shinobi some of his water. M'gann almost wanted to run away at what was about to happen next, "Its Itachi…at four years old."_

" _Aww weren't you such a cutie, Itachi. How could a cute boy like that ever kill anybody?" Artemis said jokingly. She stopped her coddling when she saw the sad look on M'gann's face. She knew something bad was about to happen._

 _They all saw the downed ninja spring up suddenly with a kunai knife in his hand and the intent of murdering Itachi. Before he could strike Itachi down his throat was slit by the Uchiha. Everyone watched as the man fell and bled to death._

" _Oh…" Artemis said quietly._

" _Whoa." Wally added._

" _This is starting to get scary." Captain Marvel said which crystallized what everyone else was starting to think._

 _Everyone saw a man walking towards Itachi. They all got worried about what would happen next, but M'gann assured them that he wasn't a threat._

" _Father…why did this shinobi try to kill me? I didn't do anything…" Four year old Itachi asked. The man behind him, revealed to be Itachi's father, looked on stoically._

" _Because this is war." He answered._

" _War?" Itachi curiously repeated._

" _It's not a war between people. It's a war between nations. That's why strangers kill each other meaninglessly." Fugaku explained._

" _Is that what war is?" Itachi asked. He wanted to know if war was just people killing other people that they didn't know for a cause that wasn't even theirs._

" _That is what the shinobi world is. Listen Itachi…never forget this sight." His father warned. The scene around every then began to change._

" _What's going on?" Robin asked._

" _We're going to the next major event in Itachi's life. You just saw the first time he had ever killed anyone. It traumatized Itachi and it breaks my heart all over again seeing it for another time." M'gann answered._

" _A Child soldier…your Earth uses child soldiers. Is that what you were Itachi?" Batman asked._

" _No…I already told you what I was…a failure." Itachi answered as the scene change finished._

 _They were at a memorial for the fallen shinobi of the Third Great Ninja War. Young Itachi walked up to a pale looking man named Orochimaru and began asking him about the meaning of life. Orochimaru replied that there was no meaning to life unless it was eternal. That too was a major event in Itachi's life because it caused him to search through whether or not life was worth living._

" _That man's so full of it. Life does have meaning; he had no right to be telling a four year old child something so irresponsible." Canary said as she felt her anger welling up._

 _The scene changed to young Itachi standing near the edge of a very high cliff. The others saw that Itachi had a look of defeat and sorrow on his face. Artemis started walking up to the young boy as he got closer and closer to the edge, "What's he about to do? What were you about to do Itachi?"_

" _I'm about to try to commit suicide." Itachi answered stoically. They all looked at him in surprise. Then young Itachi fell from the top of the cliff. As they watched the boy plummet to the ground, the sounds of crows started to fill their ears. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, they saw Itachi pull out two kunai knives and use them to stop his descent. After a few tries, Itachi had stopped his freefall and landed on the ground safely._

 _They then saw young Itachi speaking to one of the crows. Then a horde of crows swarmed around Itachi as if symbolizing a changing of the winds. One landed on young Itachi's arm after the others dispersed. The scene began to change, but before it did everyone heard young Itachi ask the crow what the meaning of life was._

* * *

James, Professor Ivo, and Amanda Waller were all in the examining room as the Itachi clone was being given a final physical. If he passes, the clone would be allowed to go on his first mission. It's why everyone wanted to be extra careful of his progression.

"Everything looks good so far, Ma'am." James noted.

"Yes, yes it does. Is the team prepared for the mission?" She asked.

"Yes, they've all been made aware of the conditions and terms of the mission. As soon as the clone is cleared, he will join them so that the mission can begin." James replied.

"Are you sure testing him with a mission of that difficulty this early is wise? Who knows how he will be able to handle to stress of it?" Ivo inquired.

"That's why we are testing him with such a challenge this early. We need to assess him skill wise and come up with a proper training regimen. I have the utmost faith in his abilities." Waller answered.

"But what if he dies on the first mission? Making him and using all of these resources would have been pointless." Ivo argued.

"You just focus on making sure that memory adaptation device stays functional. If the clone dies on the first mission that means he was never meant to do anything of purpose anyways. Whether his is a clone or not though, his life has purpose." Waller replied.

"What is that purpose?" Ivo asked. James smile as he clenched his fist, "To bring down the Justice League and save the world."

The clone sat on the table in a blank state as his creators spoke on his future, but internally the clone was suffering from great conflict. In his mind all he could think about was what happened to him in the past.

' _Or I should say what happened to the real Itachi. But how can he be the real Itachi when I exist? Aren't I the real Itachi? I'm so confused…so lost. Why did that soldier try to kill me? I was only four years old?! Why did I try to kill myself? What is the point of all of this death…what causes it? War…war makes people kill people they don't know for a cause that isn't there's. Am I at war with Itachi? Is this even my cause? What is even the meaning of life?'_ The clone thought.

He was in conflict with himself. Images of memories flooded his mind all of a sudden and it caused the clone's soul to be at war with itself, but clone Itachi had no idea which side to choose...or which one would win.

* * *

" _I got my answer a year later when my younger brother Sasuke was born," Itachi stated as the scene changed to everyone being in his house and watching Itachi and his family interact with Sasuke. M'gann smiled at the scene. She knew that Sasuke was about the only thing in Itachi's life that truly made him happy._

 _The scene changed again, but this time the scene became chaos as the gigantic Nine-Tails Fox was summoned in the middle of the village and caused massive havoc. Everyone around him grew concerned as the fox destroyed everything in its path and decimated all who opposed it. In all of the chaos, young Itachi was trying his best to keep his brother at ease while he was protecting Sasuke and getting the both them to safety. They witnessed one of the debris fall on top of the building young Itachi and Sasuke were in, but thankfully the older brother was able to cover his loved one. Unfortunately, just like during the Great Ninja War, young Itachi was now surrounded by corpses again. Only this time, the dead bodies all belong to the people of his village which truly saddened him._

" _That thing is so big. How are they going to defeat it?" The Flash asked._

" _Everyone is being slaughtered. I can feel their pain, fear, and anguish. No group of people deserves this." J'onn commented._

" _All of these people…dead for no reason. You really grew up in this world Itachi?" Aquaman asked._

 _Itachi nodded as he pointed towards his younger self. The boy was currently running with Sasuke until they found a place of refuge. On his way there he came across a fellow student named Izumi. He saved her life and escorted her to a shelter. After some time the Fox was defeated and the village went silent. Only Sasuke's cries were heard from in the shelter._

 _As time passed, the Leaf Village mourned for its loss. Countless villagers lost their lives to the fox attack, including the Fourth Hokage and his wife. The village lay in shambles and its people were devastated. Itachi didn't know it then, but the ramifications of the Fox attack would shake the very history of the shinobi world._

 _After the mourning process exited its grief stage, the Leaf Village had to start rebuilding from its roots. As Itachi was surveying the buildings as they were being constructed, Itachi's classmate Izumi ran up to him, "Itachi! I wanted to say thank you for before. Because of you, I was safe!"_

" _I'm glad you didn't die." The Team then saw Itachi's impressive big brother displays. They could all tell that Itachi deeply care about people and is a good person. So the question on everyone's mind was what could such a good person to committing such horrible crimes._

* * *

Itachi's clone looked down at his hands as the tubes that the doctors hooked up to him were getting samples of his blood for testing. He was thinking about the young boy who looked like him and cried whenever anyone else tried to hold him. For some reason, the clone felt an inherent need to protect that boy, "His name…is Sasuke. He's…my younger…brother."

James looked at the clone oddly. He could swear that the clone just said the he had a younger brother, but he cast out those thoughts. He chucked it up as a result of Ivo's memory adaptation device. No one else seemed to hear it so ignored it and went back to checking on the clone's physical statistic.

"He's off the charts in terms of strength and physique. His memory retention skills and depth perception are also astronomical. I don't know if he's on the Crow's level yet, but at this rate of growth I don't see how the clone doesn't catch up to him." Ivo noted.

At the mention of Itachi, the clone's hand started to clench and unclench. His heart rate began to speed up and the machine's monitoring his brainwave activity showed large spikes in activity started to show. Waller saw this and grew concerned.

"What's happening to my clone professor?" She demanded.

"The machine indicates that the clone is thinking…no it's more like that it's feeling something. Based on the brain scans, the clone is experiencing some severe trauma. Its brain is accessing charged emotional events and playing through them. The problem is that it should be impossible for a clone to even have charged emotional events since it's a product of science. The scans are showing that the brain is slowly losing the ability to maintain a stable mood. It could lead to him being more violent, brutal, and harder to control than anticipated. Waller I don't think this clone should be let out. We need to decommission-" The professor was interrupt by James.

"We don't have time for that. We've already taken contingencies for the case that the clone goes rogue. We've got this handled." He assured.

"I'm not talking about him going rogue. I'm talking about him going insane. Something bad is going on through his head right now and depending on what it is and what it does to his psyche; we could be letting a monster loose." Ivo warned.

"Good, I need a monster on my side since the Justice League has a whole army of them on theirs. You see anger as something uncontrollable, but I see it as a tool that can be used to spark the fire that burns the League to the ground. We stay on schedule with his mission tonight." Waller ordered.

"What if he becomes the very thing you're fighting to destroy? The scans are showing the areas of the brain that access feelings like hatred and rage, along with his impulse control are being affected; and all he's doing is sitting there. At this rate you won't be able to control him." Ivo argued.

"You have no idea what I'm fighting to destroy. Be lucky that that thing I want gone isn't you, Ivo. Now shut up and get back to work." She ordered thus ending the argument.

The clone ignored their squabble. It was only focused on his DNA template, Itachi. He had one question that was running through his mind like a rocket flying through space _, 'Why do I hate Itachi Uchiha so much? What did he do?'_

* * *

" _Itachi, you seem like a good kid. So how please tell us why J'onn saw you murdering countless people. Who were they? Enemies of your village?" Superman asked._

" _In a way yes…" Itachi answered vaguely as the scene changed again. It was to a meeting involving Itachi's family. They were discussing what to do about them being relocated and basically blamed for the attack of the Nine-Tails Fox. It was a bad reminder of the dark days of the Second Hokage's reign, "This is where the trail of blood starts."_

" _What's that supposed to mean, Itachi?" Conner asked._

" _Just watch, Conner. It'll all make sense soon." M'gann answered._

 _Everyone could see that even at a young age, Itachi had always been a genius. They all saw Itachi progress through the ninja academy. He was clearly step above the other children and was progressing at an astonishing rate. Canary and the others were impressed with him, but Batman was concerned._

" _A school for training children to fight and go to war. That's where you learned how to fight?" Batman asked._

" _It's a school for training children to protect the Leaf Village, not go to war." Itachi corrected._

" _Atlantis has a training system similar to this, Batman. Aqualad is proof of that." The Atlantian king said._

" _Protecting Atlantis is what the school is for. We'd fight anyone to protect the kingdom." Kaldur replied._

" _No you wouldn't. There's a line you'd never cross. This village…the dark side of the Leaf Village has no line, and yet its goal is the same as the light side of the village; to protect it by all means." Itachi said as the scene changed._

 _More time had passed, but young Itachi still stayed kind. They saw him graduate from the academy and get his leaf headband. He was assigned to a three-man team to go on missions for the village. Itachi made his first friends on that team._

" _Wow, Itachi. Getting you to join our Team was like pulling teeth, but here you look so happy. It looks good on you." Artemis noted._

" _They were all my friends. Just like you all are." Itachi responded._

" _You mean we all were," Wally corrected harshly. It got him a glare from Artemis, Conner, and M'gann. Not everyone had made up their minds about how they felt about this so for Wally to make such harsh, false statement really annoyed them._

 _As another year went by, Itachi was eight years old and being well known as a genius of the Uchiha the entire village. But despite his praise, the relationship between the Leaf Village and the Uchiha Clan had weakened. The clan had been relocated to the edge of the village, ostracized, and had all of their power stripped for them. The resentment the Uchiha felt was growing with each passing day because they truly felt mistreated. Itachi and his father both knew that this was only going to get worse if things kept up._

 _Artemis looked and saw that it changed to Itachi sitting by a pond with a girl. It was the girl Itachi save from the attack and they seemed to be getting pretty close to each other. She took this as a time to joke around, "Itachi, you sly dog you. I had no idea you were popular with the ladies at such a young age. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that she reminds me of another cute girl that I know of."_

 _Itachi had to stifle a groan as Robin couldn't stop himself from laughing. Wally, though, had no problem ruining the fun, "As much as Itachi's love life is fun and all, what does any of this have to do with him murdering people."_

" _Yes, what does this have to do with it?" Red Tornado asked._

" _She showed me how to love." Itachi answered._

" _Aww, how cute." Artemis joked._

 _Everyone was then teleported to the day when Itachi witnessed his entire team being murdered in front of him. They all saw a man in an orange mask kill all of Itachi's friends without mercy. They all felt everything from sadness for Itachi, to grief over the loss of such young children, and rage for the madmen who'd do something so evil. The young Itachi stood there like a statue, devastation was clear on his face._

" _Itachi…I'm sorry." Wally muttered sadly._

" _To see something like that…at such a young age is horrible. It's no wonder why you can be so distant sometimes." Artemis added._

" _That day I learned what true suffering was. When I lost my friends…no when they were taken from me, I realized that I never wanted to lose something precious like that ever again. I wanted to grow strong enough to protect what matters the most. Loss is the origin of the Sharingan and my power. That day showed me how to hate." Itachi revealed as his younger self active the Uchiha eyes for the first time. Young Itachi didn't look proud, instead he look like he was in pain._

 _They all were then transported and saw a scene that absolutely disgusted them. They heard Itachi's father speak on how proud he was that Itachi unlocked the sharingan, thus ignoring the trauma the young boy had to experience in the process. It was a reality check on just how cold Itachi's upbringing was. His feelings and pain were completely ignored by his father for the glory of their clan. And Itachi had no choice but to put on a façade._

" _That's disgraceful. No child should be subjected to this lifestyle." Canary noted sadly._

" _A childhood without love, but filled with death and sadness. Is this why you killed all of those people?" Manhunter asked._

" _No, my childhood my not have been the best, but I still had joy in it." Itachi answered as they saw him playing with his brother. And just for the slightest of moment, M'gann swore that she saw Itachi smiling._

" _As the years passed things got worse. I was made a captain of the anbu black ops, which are my village's special forces. Though my clan praised me for my accomplishments, a rift was created and I grew more distant and colder towards my clan. The rift was created because I openly disapproved of my clan's direction. Time only made my clan grow angrier at the Leaf for their mistreatment. The higher ups blamed us for the Nine-Tails attack, their rationale being that only an Uchiha could control a tailed best. The greatest evil my world had ever seen had come from my clan, and he too was able to control the Nine-Tails. They had preconceived prejudices of us that started generations ago. By the time I was thirteen, the relationship was completely shattered." Itachi explained._

" _What does that mean? So your clan hated their government, a lot of people hate their government. How is that significant?" Hal Jordan asked._

" _Because my clan was willing to start a civil war over it. With my promotions in rank, the clan sought to use that as an opportunity to gent intel on the Leaf Elders. My best friend Shisui and I were secretly chosen as spies to report to the Leaf Elders about the Uchiha clan's secret meetings about the potential coup." Itachi explained._

" _You were a double spy? Why did you go against your clan?" Wonder Woman asked._

" _Because it was the right thing to do. My clan meant to cause great harm. The goal was to placate my clan, but if we were unsuccessful, drastic measure would be taken." Itachi answered._

" _Drastic measures? What do you mean by that?" Superman asked._

 _Itachi changed the scene to eleven year old Itachi speaking with his friend Shisui. The others saw that the ninja was bleeding from his eye and looked to have just got out of a battle._

" _What happened to your friend's eye?" Robin asked noticing that it was bleeding and closed._

" _It was taken from him during an ambush from one Leaf Elders. He had grown impatient with us and decided to take drastic measures." Itachi explained._

" _That means taking a teenager's eye?! What type leadership does you village have?!" Superman asked angrily._

" _The kind that is willing to do anything to protect the village." Itachi answered._

 _They all quieted down as Shisui and Itachi had their final conversation on a cliff in the outskirts of the village, "The Foundation is involved. Unfortunately, they see that there is no way to stop the Uchiha's coup. If civil war breaks out in the Leaf, the neighboring countries will definitely use that as an opportunity to invade…and the next Great Ninja War will begin because of it. I was planning on using my eye to stop the coup, but Danzo ambushed me and took my right eye. He viewed my genjutsu as a temporary fix and acted against me because of it. He has lost faith in us and will resort to anything to protect the Hidden Leaf Village. Soon, they will come after my left eye too. But before that happens I want you to have it."_

 _Shisui then removed his left eye from its socket much to everyone's surprise and disgust. They were starting to see the plot unfolding. Everyone was starting to piece together who Itachi killed and unfortunately why he did it._

" _Itachi, you're the only friend I trust. I beg of you, please protect the village and the Uchiha name. I'm sorry to thrust such a burden on you, but you are our last hope at avoiding war. You can save them all." Shisui then gave Itachi his left eye._

" _I'm also going to be giving you a new power; the Mangekyo Sharingan. You know what that means. My time on this Earth is running out. Take this as a gift…as my dying wish. Hey, stop it with that look. Even with no eyes, I can still see your face easily. That's how close we are. A worried expression doesn't look good on you. You must always remain calm, my friend. That's what Itachi Uchiha is. I know you can do this, so don't worry." Shisui encouraged. M'gann began crying again like she did the first time she saw this scene. Everyone could feel the sadness crashing down as they knew Itachi was about to lose his best friend._

" _I will carry on your will and honor the Uchiha name." Itachi swore._

" _From now on, you may be forced to walk down a long, dark path. One that's filled with pain and suffering. I have to apologize because I can't be with you through it all. I hope you don't falter from your path. Please keep moving forward as a Leaf ninja. I believe in you. That is why I'm able to ask you to carry my will…and the Mangekyo. Thank you for everything. This may be the end of the road for me, but this will pave a new way for you and give you a new power to be used to protect the village. The time has come Itachi. Make a new way for yourself with your own hands. You can do it…I know you can. Goodbye my friend, I leave the rest to you."_

 _Shisui then fell off of the cliff and killed himself in front of Itachi. The emotional distress and pain caused Itachi to awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan, and started him on the path that would change his life forever. Everyone was silent at what they had just witnessed. They were starting to see the darkness in which Itachi has walked under for his entire life. From then on they could all see the visible shift in Itachi as time passed. He started openly challenging the customs of his clan and openly feuded with them, growing more and more disgusted with them with each day._

 _To everyone's surprise, Itachi still kept working with Danzo after what he did to Shisui. Itachi explained that after Shisui's death, he still had to focus on stopping a civil war from breaking out. That meant cooperating with all of the Leaf Elders. He had to if he were to save Sasuke from the decisions of their clan._

 _Unfortunately, his story only gets darker. They all were shown the conversation Itachi had with Danzo prior to the massacre. Two years had passed and every sign pointed towards civil war. The Uchiha were all dug in and Itachi knew there was no hope for them. Danzo decided to meet in secret with Itachi and relay that his clan's fate was sealed. They would all be exterminated, including innocent children such as Sasuke and including Itachi himself. The reason the children had to die was because if someone like Sasuke witnessed a Leaf ninja murder his clan, he would grow up seeking vengeance against the Leaf, and would have to be killed later on anyways. But he gave Itachi an ultimatum, a way to save his brother; he could either align with his clan, be slaughtered with them, and have their legacy be tarnished forever. Or he could side with the Leaf, save his brother before the coup happens, and help exterminate the other Uchiha. This way the reputation of the Uchiha would be forever preserved. He made it clear that either way, this was happening soon so Itachi had no time to contemplate._

" _As a double agent for the Leaf and Uchiha, only you can do this Itachi. This will be the most painful mission for you, but on the other hand it will allow you to save your little brother. All you have to do is kill your other kin. I know you care about the future of this village as much as I do…so will you accept this mission?" Danzo asked._

 _Itachi walked away because they both knew what his answer was. He was backed into a corner and saw only one way this could end. The League and the Team were shocked by this._

" _Your family?! They made you murder your own family? And have the nerve to call it a mission like it was some sort of justice?!" Superman asked angrily._

" _They used your love for your home and your brother against you like that?! That's unforgivable." Marvel added._

" _How could you accept that? How could you not fight back?" Robin demanded. He had his family murdered so the idea of watching someone be forced to murder their own kin infuriated him._

" _He had no choice. Itachi's clan was going to be wiped out no matter what he chose. It was already in motion. You saw what they did to his friend. Itachi could either let someone murder his entire family and let his lineage die, or do it himself and be able to save one of them. It was an impossible choice. None of us knows what that feels like or what we would have done in that situation." M'gann argued._

" _It's just hard to comprehend. Itachi, you're so kind. To be force to kill your own family…I just don't understand." Canary said with sadness._

" _Peace is never without price. Sometimes that price is ugly." Batman commented._

" _But why him? Why did it have to be Itachi? Why couldn't that coward Danzo do it himself?" Artemis demanded angrily. She was angry and sad that her friend had to live like this. This made her feel like her family drama was nothing compared to his._

" _Because if his village orchestrated the massacre of an integral clan, and the other clans found out, it would lead to rebellion and civil war. Their deaths would be meaningless if that happened. Isn't that right, Itachi?" Batman hypothesized. Itachi nodded in agreement much to the others chagrin. He really had no choice._

" _Why didn't you just kill this Danzo guy? He basically murdered your best friend! It's not like he doesn't have it coming." Artemis asked. She really did not like that old man._

" _Because he took responsibility for doing too many deplorable things for the sake of the Leaf. He helped shift the blame for the Nine-Tails attack from the Uchiha clan to a newborn baby. It helped the village recover from the crisis and pushed back the coup by several years. I would never be able to do something that bastardly and because of that he was spared. The truth is that the Leaf needed Danzo more than it needed me." Itachi answered._

" _Great, he's so despicable that the village needs him. What a joke." Artemis lamented. The others agreed with her and saw the fragility of the village's moral compass._

" _It seems I was wrong. Itachi, your world is nothing like Atlantis. I don't know if I could have survived in it. I wish you were born on our Earth and could have lived in peace." Aqualad said. Everyone was in agreement with that statement._

 _After Itachi made his choice, he set in motion the plan to exterminate his clan and save his village. He sowed seeds of resentment towards the Uchiha after being accused of murdering his best friend and suggested to Sasuke that it would be best if he hated him. Itachi also vowed to always be there for him in the end. As the night drew closer, Itachi made one last deal that sealed the Uchiha's fate. He enlisted the help of Madara Uchiha; the man who murdered his friends that fateful day all those years ago. That deal protected the Leaf from Madara's wrath and secured Sasuke's safety. All Itachi had to do was join his organization afterwards. The deal was another example of the bad position Itachi was in. He had to team up with the man who murdered his friends, so that they could both murder his family. It was the definition of a cruel world. The plan was for Madara to kill the Uchiha Police Force as Itachi slaughtered the rest of the clan. It would all happen quickly, silently, and gruesomely._

" _This is it. You know who I kill and why I do it. Now, all that is left is for you to witness it." Itachi warned._

" _But Shisui wanted you to save your family, not kill them." Green Arrow argued._

" _I did save them. History will always remember that the Uchiha clan was murdered by a rogue psychopath who hated the clan's traditions and lineage. The world will never discover that my clan planned to overthrow the Leaf Village and were willing to murder thousands by unleashing a tailed beast on innocents. Instead of monsters, they are remembered as victims because of my actions." Itachi explained._

" _But at what cost to you though," Zatara asked. Itachi looked as the scene changed to the nigh of the Uchiha Downfall, "Self-sacrifice is the way of the shinobi. My decision was based on the safety of my brother and my village, both of which I love very much. Nothing else mattered and nothing could sway me from this course." Itachi said as the nightmare began._

 _They all witnessed Itachi initiate the Uchiha Massacre. It took place the night before the Uchiha Coup was scheduled to begin as most of the clan would stay within the compound in preparation for the coup. Danzo made it so that all Uchiha Police that was schedule to be on duty were relived so that they would be in their homes. He also made it so Sasuke would be kept at the Academy until late, allowing him to be spared._

 _His first victim was his lover, Izumi Uchiha. He figured that if he could force himself to kill her, then his resolve would force him to see the mission through. He put her in the Tsukuyomi and forced her to live out her entire life in a matter of seconds. That much mental stress of the genjutsu killed her because dying in a genjutsu is the same as dying in the real world; your brain just stops functioning. In her final moments she did not show Itachi resentment, instead she thanked him for giving her the life she wanted with him, even if it was just a dream. Itachi in turn thanked her for loving him as she passed away. The scene brought nearly everyone to tears. But then her mother walked in and Itachi impaled her heart with his sword. They were all reminded that this was indeed a massacre._

 _The plan was for Itachi and his partner to start at opposite ends and meet at the center. Madara handled the police and the initial resistance while Itachi took the civilians and non-fighters. That meant Itachi would be slaughtering a lot of women and children. This had to be done quickly, but still be gruesome enough to look like a massacre out of rage rather than a calculated attack. Itachi felt sorrow for having to do this, but he knew this was the only way to save his brother. He swore that he'd make this quick and painless for his clan._

 _As the night commence everyone saw a river of blood being spilled. Itachi tried to kill as many people as painlessly as possible. Everyone was horrified by the gruesome scene. J'onn nearly collapsed from the sheer fear and terror being felt._

 _The worst of it was when a group of children were holed up in a shelter. Itachi had just slit the watchmen's throat as he left to make sure the kids were secured. Itachi walked in and the kids started feeling hopeful that they would be saved._

" _It's Itachi! He'll protect us. You're here to take out the bad guys, right?" One of the kids asked._

" _Yes…I am." Itachi answered._

" _See, I told you we were gonna make-" The kid never got to finish as Itachi ran his sword through the boys chest, killing him instantly. He then turned his attention towards the other kids who were shaking with fear as they were all slaughtered one by one. He made sure that none of them suffered any pain and all died instantly. He left the room in a pile of riddle corpses and covered in all of their blood, 'Quick, but bloody.'_

 _Itachi repeated that mantra throughout the entire night as he went house by house, door by door, and slaughtered all in his sight. It was the only way he kept his sanity as more blood kept being shed. Men, women, boys, and girls…they all had to die so that Sasuke could live. Even the innocent ones who knew nothing of the Uchiha's coup had to meet their fates. Itachi did, however, take care to prolong the suffering of Inabi, Tekka, and Yashiro Uchiha since he felt they forced his father to go through with this coup and ordered Shisui to spy on him. In his eyes, all of this was happening because of them._

 _Everyone was shocked silent by what they were seeing. It was truly a massacre. Not even the quick-witted Wally had anything to say. It was just tears, rage, and silence._

 _When all of the Uchiha except his parents are dead, Itachi halted his mission to watch Sasuke enter the compound. He wanted to bask in Sasuke's last moments of innocence before it was taken from him forever. Itachi hurries to his home to finish the mission, but meets his father on the way. Fugaku laments Itachi's decision to go against the Uchiha, but respects his choice. He shows Itachi that he too has the Mangekyo Sharingan and plans on using it to resurrect the Nine-Tails Fox. Itachi uses his Mangekyo Sharingan to show his father what he envisions as the future of their clan; Sasuke. Fugaku understands the message before disappearing in a huff of smoke. Itachi realized that it was a clone and that he would have to fight his father to the death._

 _Itachi hurried home to finish his mission, but finds his parents kneeling in their bedroom as if they were waiting for him to arrive. Fugaku and Mikoto expressed that they did not want to fight their own child._

 _Fugaku expressed shame and regret for forcing his son to have to do something that would scar him forever. Fugaku knew that his son was a pacifist and that he despised violence, but he kept pushing the clan's goals on him which has led to this tragedy. He wished that he had been a better father and trusted Itachi more, for he believes that his son could have become Hokage and finally united the Leaf and the Uchiha._

" _Itachi, just promise me this…take care of Sasuke." Fugaku pleaded to his son in his last moments._

" _I will." Itachi promised as he began to feel the weight of what he was about to do and started crying._

" _Do not fear. This is the path you have chosen. Compared to you, our pain will be over in an instant. Even if our philosophies differ, we are proud of you, son. You truly are a kind child." That was Fugaku's last words to his son before he and his wife were killed._

 _Moments later, almost everyone had tears in their eyes as they saw Sasuke's reaction to walking in on his parents as Itachi stood over them. Their hearts broke the moment Sasuke realized that Itachi had murdered them, along with the rest of their clan. Itachi then put his brother under the Tsukuyomi and showed him every bloody, gruesome death. All with the goal of making his brother hate him. They saw Itachi chastise Sasuke for his fear and dared him to get strong enough so that he could face and kill him. Itachi demeaned his brother by making it seem like he wasn't even worth killing. It broke Sasuke. Itachi left his brother in shambles and heartbroken, but Sasuke woke up and chased after him. Itachi saw that the emotional trauma caused Sasuke to awaken his sharingan and whatever humanity that was still in Itachi died in that instant. Sasuke managed to muster up the rest of his willpower to attack Itachi, but only wound up damaging his forehead protector. Right when Sasuke passed out, Itachi shed tears. They would be the last tears Itachi would shed for the rest of his life._

 _The bystanders couldn't even watch it anymore. The pain in both Sasuke's and Itachi's tears were unbearable. So when Itachi told them that this wasn't the end of it, they all braced themselves for more pain and death._

* * *

Waller and James smiled as the clone got up and took his memory adaptation device off. He had a look of fierce hatred on his face. It was like he was a man possessed.

"Are you ready for your first mission?" Waller asked.

The clone nodded. James then directed the clone to the armory. The Masked Stranger left him with a few tools that could be useful to him for his first mission: shuriken, kunai knives, paper bombs, and smoke bombs. And a special tool made specifically for him to use on missions; a sword.

"What is my mission?" The clone asked.

"To prove to us that we're right in investing in you. To show us if you are good enough to destroy the Crow and the League. We need to know if you have what it takes to crush them. This mission will be a tutorial for us to study you." Waller answered with a smirk.

"I think I understand what you want." The clone responded as he studied the sword.

"Show us why you fight. What is your purpose?" James added. The clone of Itachi put its gear on and prepared to begin his first mission. He thought about James's question and his mind went back to what he had just witnessed; the murder of the people he believed were his family and the heartbreak of his brother Sasuke _, 'Itachi, you took them away from me. My mother, my father, and my brother all suffered because of you. You're a cancer and you need to be exterminated. I swear I'll kill you in the slowest, most excruciatingly painful way imaginable. I'll kill anyone who gets in my way…everyone that you care about in this world will die. Yes, I'll kill as many people as I have to as long as you are one of them. I swear it because I hate you, Itachi Uchiha, and my purpose is to kill you!'_

* * *

"I can't believe Waller had us sent to this dump for a 'special mission'." Bronze Tiger Lamented.

The members of the Suicide Squad were currently on mission by orders of their boss, Amanda Waller. The goal of the mission was simple; survive. Whoever could make it through the night, Waller promised that they would receive full pardons of past crimes and immediate release of their current sentences. Said members were Bronze Tiger, King Shark, Livewire, Shrapnel, Slipknot, Captain Boomerang, and Cheetah.

"I can't believe that Harley actually was able to escape. That crazy loon has all of the best luck." Captain Boomerang muttered despairingly. The accomplice to the clown prince was broken out of Belle Reeve about a month ago.

"I'm just wondering who broke her out since Joker has been locked away in Arkham for a few weeks now." Cheetah said.

"I heard it was Riddler and his crew. Apparently, they're planning something big together." Livewire speculated.

"It doesn't matter. She's gone so let's focus on the current objective. If we survive tonight, we all get to go home to real beds and not that concrete crap they have us sleeping on back in Belle Reeve. I don't know what Waller is thinking, but she just lost her precious Task Force X." Bronze Tiger said as he put his tiger claws on.

"Good, I need to pay Flash a visit for putting me behind bars. Then I'll find a bank to rob since it's been so long." Captain Boomerang added. Bronze Tiger got them all in a circle and went over the plan with them. He had no plans on dying tonight, "Slipknot, I want you to guard to door outside. It's the only way in or out. If you see anything, even if it's just a fly, you shout and we'll provide backup. We'll work on finding the generator in here and having Livewire put some juice in it. We're sitting blind here in the dark and that needs to change. Cheetah and King Shark will use their enhanced senses to snuff out anyone who may already be inside while the rest of us provide cover where we see fit."

"I very much want to go home so none of you had better screw up or you'll have me to deal with." Shrapnel threatened.

Everybody left to get the plan started. Slipknot stood watch outside and had his grappling pistol ready for use. It was raining so it would be harder to hear noises outside, but Slipknot was a trained assassin and experienced killer. Before he was sent to prison, he made a reputation of raping and murdering women. It's how he was put on Black Canary's radar. Since then he has been on Waller's task force trying to reduce his sentence. So with this opportunity to get it all wiped away, Slipknot was determined to not let it go to waste.

Slipknot was on high alert as the rain came down hard. So when he heard a noise from above, he wasted no time in firing his grappling pistol upward towards the source of the sounds. He waited a few minutes to see if he had killed whatever he shot at.

"Nothing. Must have been my nerves. What am I nervous about? Who's gonna attack-" Slipknot didn't get to finish his sentence. He was killed by decapitation; and the weapon used was a demon wind shuriken. As his body fell to the ground in a bloody heap, his killer walked up to both admire his work and prepare for the next stage as he picked up Slipknot's head.

The other members of the Suicide Squad were all gathered by the generator inside of the warehouse. The machine was old so it was taking Livewire longer than expected to warm it up. As everyone waited as it was charging up, Bronze Tiger was attempting to get into contact with Slipknot.

"Bronze Tiger to Slipknot, come in." He never got a response. There was only static that was heard. He and the others didn't want to take any chances so they sent Cheetah to check on him, "Cheetah, go check on that idiot."

"Of course, it's always him that seems to screw things up. You'd think a creep like him could handle himself, but all he seems to be good at is preying on defenseless women. I'd claw his face off if-" Just as she was about to finish, an object was thrown their way from out of the darkness. Everyone saw that the object was the decapitated head of their teammate, "If his head was still attached to his shoulders…gross."

' _Whoever did this seems to be either really good or really sick in the head. Slipknot's jaw is removed. That means that either it was removed after Slipknot was killed or he was in the middle of talking when he got his head chopped off.'_ Bronze Tiger surmised. He would consider it impressive if not for the fact that whoever did this was probably here to kill all of them.

"Whoever you are, come out now! We didn't like Slipknot anyways, so you wound up doing us a favor by cutting the bloke's head off. As thanks we'll settle for cutting your head off, but if you make us wait, we will make it hurt." Captain Boomerang threatened.

The response the Suicide Squad got was not what they were expecting. The figure laughed as his voice echoed throughout the darkness of this factory. It was the most menacing laugh they'd ever heard, and most of them have met the Joker.

"I can't figure out where he's at. The way his voice is bouncing all over the place makes it seem like he's everywhere and nowhere at the same time." Cheetah voice frustratingly.

"Who are you?! Show yourself so I can devour you!" King Shark demanded.

"There was an idea…to bring together a group of despicable people with the goal of doing something good. That with enough time, they could wash away the sins of their past and redeem themselves to society. And when the time came, you could be called upon to fight toe-to-toe with the Justice League for the good of the Earth. But you never could and I was created instead. I was not made without cost…a price must be paid." The voice warned.

"Damn that Waller! This is no mission…it never was. This is our replacement…our execution." Bronze Tiger realized angrily.

The others felt betrayal and rage towards Waller and Argus. They had fought and bled for Waller's suicide missions and what was their reward; a bloody execution. But they weren't going down without a fight.

"Well why don't you come down here and get this over with then since you think you can take on the Justice League?!" Shrapnel yelled.

"I can hear the fear in all of your voices. You all sounded like he did just before he lost his head. So unsure…so afraid. Before the night is over, you will come to know true suffering as I have. To lose everything you hold dear, even the things you never knew were important to you. There are some redeeming qualities deep within all of you, good things worth fighting for, yet I will kill you all here the same. Fight me…run from me, it will not matter because death has come." The voice declared.

"You talk too much. Come down here and fight us since you're so confident." Bronze Tiger said trying to goad their opponent into a fight they wanted. If he was being honest, something about this guy didn't sit well with him at all.

"We aren't afraid of you! The Justice League doesn't even scare us. So how could some coward in the dark scare us?!" Captain Boomerang declared.

"Do you know the one thing I love more than hearing someone scream in terror; hearing them go silent." The voice said ominously.

After that a sizzling sound was heard nearby. Everyone check their surroundings for what they believed to a bomb nearby. It wasn't until Cheetah focused her hearing did she find the noise coming from inside Slipknot's head that she realized the trap that was set, "Everyone get away from-"

It was too late. The paper bomb hidden inside of Slipknot's head went off and blasted everyone within the vicinity. Livewire was blasted straight into King Shark, thus causing significant damage due to her electrical powers. Shrapnel, Captain Boomerang, and Bronze Tiger were the furthest away from Slipknot's head which meant they took the least amount of damage. They just had the wind knocked out of them. Cheetah, on the other hand, was the closest and suffered the most significant damage. Her left arm was blown off completely, with her right one being rendered useless because of the third degree burns she suffered. She also suffered a compound fracture in her right leg. Her Femur bone could be seen sticking out of her leg painfully. Cheetah was wailing in pain and suffering greatly.

In the midst of all of the chaos, their attacker had made his presence known. He was the clone of Itachi Waller made and his first mission was to exterminate the current incarnation of the Suicide Squad. He strolled down the assortment of criminals with a satisfied smile on his face. When he got to Cheetah, he knelt down and smothered her mouth with his hand. The only sound that could be heard was the muffled screams of a terrified Cheetah.

"Pleasure isn't something one usually feels when torturing someone else, it corrupts the soul. It's why there is a saying out there; 'my mercy is greater than my wrath'," The clone then released her mouth and let her breath again. The pause was only the calm before the storm though as he stabbed her broken leg with a kunai. She started screeching even louder than before much to the clone's delight, "It's too bad you don't deserve mercy, none of you do. That's why I am going to enjoy this. Hearing you scream puts a smile on my face. I want you to feel all of the terror you've caused to others due to your carnal ways. I am wrath that devours mercy! You deserve to suffer…so scream for me!"

Cheetah kept screeching in pain. It was the most hellish moments of life she had ever suffered and she would beg for death if she had the ability to speak. It didn't end until the clone used his sword to gruesomely hack her head off of her shoulders.

"I love it when they go silent. I wonder how long you all will last before you stop screaming," The clone said as he was smiling menacingly. He turned towards the others who still hadn't recovered all of the way. Fear was clear on all of their faces, "I'm going to enjoy every moment of this."

And with that began a pivotal event that would start this clone on a dark, evil path towards revenge against Itachi. That event is known as the Suicide Massacre.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter! It took a while, but I got it done. As you all will read, this clone is a dark, sadistic force of nature that will challenge Itachi in every way possible. I wanted to base it off of the Logan climax of Wolverine vs. X-24. A battle of mythology vs. reality if that makes sense. I want people to fear this character and his psychotic tendencies. The clone will definitely push the boundaries of Itachi's moral compass and greatly alter how I want this story to progress. It's why when writing the chapter I wanted to show that the clone is also seeing Itachi's past as the others are and reacting to it in real time like they are. It's why I chose to go into great detail about it. This is only the beginning and I can't wait to get back to writing and dive deeper into the dark mind of Itachi's clone.**

 **The next chapter will be called Wrath. It will be featuring the rest of Itachi's past and the clone vs. the Suicide Squad. I wanna say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has read, liked, disliked, or anything in between about this story. When I was asked to continue it, I had no idea this many people would view and like it as much as they have and for that you have my thanks. This is not the end. Once I'm done with boot camp, I'll get right back into the grind and pump another chapter out for you guys. If you like the chapter let me know in the reviews/pm, and if you didn't like it let me know still because I enjoy reading everyone's reaction. Love you guys and have a happy New Years! See you all in March!**


	21. Darkness

Wrath stared down the remaining members of the Suicide Squad with great intensity. He truly was the opposite of Itachi who was always calm and collected in battle. Wrath was ruthless and eager to kill anyone who stood in his way, but the person he wanted to kill the most was Itachi. He wanted justice for having his family taken away from him and he is determined to get as powerful as necessary so that he can make Itachi suffer before killing him. But first he had to deal with the foes that stand before him now.

"Don't think that we'll go down as easily as the others!" Shrapnel yelled. He, Captain Boomerang, and Bronze Tiger had recovered from the explosion and were preparing to be in fight of their lives. Wrath paid them no mind and went into a monologue.

"Why do you do what you do? You're thieves, rapists, and murderers…for what? Does it make you feel empowered? Look where it got you, standing before me moments away from death. Do you know how many lives you've ruined? And not once did you ever blink an eye about it. You remind me of someone else I know. I'll kill him too, just like I will you." Wrath declared.

"Just shut up and fight. I swear punks like you-" Captain Boomerang got interrupted by shuriken thrown his way. He used his boomerang to deflect them and tossed some explosive boomerangs out as a counter attack. Wrath jumped forward to dodge the projectiles and went to engage in a close combat fight, but was met with Bronze Tiger. Wrath brought out a kunai and deflected the tiger claws easily. His sharingan made each attack visible and predictable. After toying with the criminal long enough, Wrath got him into a critical condition when he cut Bronze Tiger's left leg and shredded the muscles and tendons inside. Bronze Tiger fell to the ground in pain from the attack. Wrath was about to deal the killing blow when crystal projectiles were shot at him and forced him to back away from the fallen foe. Wrath smiled when he landed as the two criminals rushed to their teammate's aid.

"So there is honor amongst thieves. That was some good teamwork you guys just displayed mixing in close, long, and medium ranged attacks like that. I'm also glad you have the basic skills of deflecting shuriken, but let's see you dodge this," Wrath weaved the hand signs needed to use the legacy of his family, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

A giant fireball was released and primed towards the trio of criminals. Knowing that it was too big to dodge and that Bronze Tiger was hurt badly, Shrapnel stepped forward and made a desperate last ditch effort by creating a crystal wall to protect his teammates. The fireball collided with the wall and came to a deadlock. Wrath's fireball wasn't making a dent into Shrapnel's wall.

"Boomerang, take Bronze Tiger and the others and get out of here. I'll hold him off as long as possible!" Shrapnel ordered.

"You think you can boss me around like that?! You can forget it; I won't leave a man behind on the job." Boomerang responded.

"This isn't up for discussion. This guy isn't like anyone else we've ever faced before. He means it when says he intends on killing us. We can't let him do that. I may not have liked Slipknot and Cheetah, but they didn't deserve to have their heads taken off. We can't let Waller win. She has to pay." Shrapnel reasoned.

"She's gonna get hers. I promise you that." Boomerang said as he carried a barely conscious Bronze Tiger towards safety. He went to King Shark and Livewire to get them too.

Wrath was entertained by their pointless effort to delay their deaths. No wall would hold him back from completing his mission. He poured more chakra into his jutsu which made it even more powerful. It resulted in the crystal wall, as well as everything else in the fireball's path, to being blown to bits, which included Shrapnel.

The end result of the explosion was Shrapnel's body from his torso up being blown off as the rest of him fell in a smoldering heap. Wrath walked up to the corpse and took a deep breath before addressing the rest of the Suicide Squad, who were all hiding, "That makes three of you. Hiding will only delay the inevitable. Do you all know what the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was? It's when he convinced the world that he didn't exist. That devil's name is Itachi Uchiha. He somehow convinced the world that he's a hero…that his deeds in the past can be washed away because of the pointless good he's doing here. He is a murderer who took the lives of his entire family for a village that didn't even live up to his morals. He did it for a lie! I woke up to seeing my little brother being heartbroken because of that monster! I saw my parent's bloodied, mangled corpses on the floor because he felt that the side of the village was the right one for the future. He chose strangers over his own kin."

Wrath activated his sharingan and quickly found the location of the surviving members of the Suicide Squad, "It's just like you. I don't care what good deeds you all have done since teaming up, your sins must be paid for with blood. I am true justice. The weak have cried out for too long while the heroes of this world watch on from their golden throne of lies. No more will the voices of the oppressed be ignored."

He dodged a bolt of lightning that was shot his way as Livewire came out fully recovered by his initial attack, "You talk too much. Who are you to pass judgement onto us? Yeah, we've done unspeakable things, but so have you! I don't see you planning on offing yourself for the greater good of the world!"

"I'm cleaning up the mess that the heroes of the world left. You all are just a starting point. I know what I'm doing is morally wrong, but why I'm doing it is what separates us. The wrath of the Uchiha's will be felt and I will drown this world in blood. You all kill for the sake of your own pleasures; I do it so that someone else will never have to ever again. I do it so that what happened to my family will never happen to another family again." Wrath responded.

"And what about our families?! Our friends and loved ones?! Don't they get a chance or do we all have to suffer because some dude we don't even know pissed you off?" Livewire asked.

"I'm at war. It's the reason for my existence. Waller may think that I will do her bidding and be a measly soldier for Argus, but at the end of the day I am an Uchiha. My loyalties lie with the future of my clan." Wrath explained.

"How can you say it's a war when only one side knows about it? That's not war; it's an ambush…a massacre. How is that fair for us or the innocent civilians who have nothing to do with your gripe?" Livewire pleaded. This was probably the first time in her life that she has had to reason with someone like this. It's probably because of the amount of people that would be in danger if Wrath goes unchecked. That's why his answer sent chills down her spine.

"Was it fair when innocent women and children of my clan were murdered in the dead of the night? Not all of them had something to do with the gripe of our enemies. They were just guilty by association. The same applies to you all. All my family wanted was to be treated as equals, and it got them all killed. I can't forget that…I won't forget that. You say that this is an ambush; I say that this is retaliation against the world. When I say the world, I mean against the flawed system of a world where just because someone doesn't look like you or act like you, they get designated as the enemy. Because they come from somewhere different they get treated as the enemy. It doesn't matter what universe it is, the injustice remains the same. If you want to treat us like the enemy, then we will become the enemy." Wrath replied.

Wrath then weaved hand signed to use the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Volleys of fireballs were shot towards the members of the Suicide Squad that were hiding behind a shipping container. The container went up in flames as a result. Explosive boomerangs shot out of the flames and headed straight for Wrath. The cloned shinobi countered by leaping up above them. While he was still airborne a bold of lightening was shot towards him.

' _A combination attack…so they're trying to get me while I'm unable to move. It's a good thing I have some tricks up my sleeve,'_ He thought as he summoned a clone. The clone grabbed Wrath and not only threw him out of the direction of the lightning bolt, but also simultaneously threw him towards the origins of the attack. Wrath landed to see that the area had already been abandoned, but he had several ways he could locate them. One of which happened to be a wounded tiger just waiting to be put out of its misery _, 'Bronze Tiger is bleeding heavily. He won't have much longer until he dies from too much blood lost. Lucky for me that he's leaving a trail of his blood everywhere he goes.'_

He followed the trail of blood to a shipping container. Blood was leaking from the inside so he figured that they must be planning a last ditch effort to hide there. Wrath smiled before putting some explosive tags on the door and blowing it open. He stepped inside and once the smoke had cleared, Wrath saw that the only thing inside was the remains of an amputated leg.

"Game over." Wrath said.

"Yeah, for you!" Wrath turned around just in time to see the enormous jaws of King Shark inches away from chomping down on him. Wrath just leered as King Shark snapped his jaws shut with the intent of killing the cloned assassin. A gush of blood splattered just outside the shipping container soon afterwards.

Livewire rounded the corner to see if their sneak attack worked. They knew Wrath would use Bronze Tiger's blood to follow them, so they used that knowledge to their advantage to send him to a closed off area so that King Shark could get the best shot in at killing him. She cauterized Bronze Tiger's leg with her lightning after amputating it to stop the bleeding and had Captain Boomerang take Bronze Tiger out of here. But if they kill him here and now, then the world will be safe from this terror. Should they fail, then the only option left is for one of them live and warn the world of this monster inside. That way both Wrath and Waller fail.

"Is he dead?" Livewire asked. There was silence for a while, but eventually she got a response; just not the one she was hoping for. King Shark's corpse was flung from inside the container and landed just before her feet. Shark's jaw was reduced into a broken, bloody mess. And Shark's head looked like something even bigger than him had been used to impale right through his brain since there was a deep whole at the crown of his skull. What confused Livewire was that Wrath didn't have a blade that big on his person, so how exactly did he kill Shark?

Livewire had a look of resignation and devastation, "I don't understand. How did you-"

"Did you really think I didn't see through that cheap trick from the very beginning? I was smiling for a reason when I opened that container. I knew what you were doing the entire time. I knew that the shark was following me, I knew that you were behind to seal me inside should the plan fail, and I also know that the other two of your teammates are trying to escape the building right now. My eyes see all. You're fates were sealed the moment you became my enemies." Wrath said as he stepped out.

Livewire gasped as she saw that he didn't have a scratch on him. In a desperate attempt to survive, she shot lightning at him, but Wrath stood there like a statue as the attack was blocked. Livewire looked up to see a black, ribcage surrounding Wrath. His eyes had also changed forms and began to bleed. He had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, "Allow me to introduce you to my Susanoo."

The ribcage then formed a limb and grabbed Livewire before she could even react. She tried discharging lightning, but nothing worked in her favor. She was stuck in the grasp of Wrath.

"Let go of me! I didn't do anything to you or your stupid family!" Livewire shouted as she felt her ribs being crushed slowly.

"You didn't have to. We're enemies remember…enemies at war against one another." Wrath replied.

"I don't care about your stupid war! I just wanna live!" Livewire replied as she started coughing up blood.

"I'm sure your victims didn't care about your carnal desires either. I'm sure they all wanted to live, but did you spare them?" Wrath asked solemnly as his Susanoo squeezed even harder.

The sounds of her bones cracking and breaking could be heard echoing throughout the building, along with her cries of pain and anguish. And Wrath was enjoying every moment of her torture, "As much as I enjoy hearing you scream, I asked you a question. Did you spare them?"

"No! Okay, no I didn't! I still killed them because I'm a horrible person alright! All I cared about was me and what I wanted. I was just tired of feeling like all life had to offer me was venom so I decided that it was my time to dish it out. Whether it was Superman or innocent civilians didn't matter to me. I just wanted someone else to hurt like how I did. I'm sorry." She said as she started crying.

Wrath eased up on the pressure after hearing her words, "I can relate to that. That's probably how my family felt before they were killed. Life creates anger, which turns into hatred, and fosters revenge. There's no such thing a happy ending, only suffering. The only way progress is ever achieved in the world is through pain, suffering, and death. It is how we grow as humans because this truly is a cruel world."

"Please, let me go and I promise you that I'll change." Livewire pleaded. Wrath looked her in the eyes and with a cold dark voice he replied, "No, you still have to die. As much as I sympathize with you, that doesn't change the fact that you and I are enemies on opposite sides of a war. This is for all of my fallen kin that was lost on that night because of that devil. Itachi Uchiha must suffer for his sins and killing you is the first step in doing that."

"But I've never met the guy before. What would killing me do to him?" She asked.

"It will show him what I'm capable of…what he's capable of. I won't stop until all of the cancer in this world is removed." Wrath answered as his Susanoo resumed crushing her. She cried out even louder than before as blood started pouring from out of her mouth. With a single thought, Wrath had his Susanoo crush her to death as the screaming stopped. Her organs were destroyed and her bones were reduced to dust. Her mangled corpse dropped to the ground as Wrath turned towards where Bronze Tiger and Captain Boomerang ran off to and followed in pursuit of them.

"Come on, only a little bit more before we're clear," Captain Boomerang said as he was carrying Bronze Tiger in a fireman's carry on his shoulders. They had gone through every exit, but they were all blocked in. They're only hope was the entrance the came through. Bronze Tiger wasn't as optimistic as his teammate, "We haven't heard from King Shark or Livewire in a while. They were supposed to have caught up to us by now."

"They're probably dead. Nothing we can do about that. This guy is serious. We can't beat him, but if we could just escape from this nightmare, then that means he loses too." Boomerang said as they were coming up on the entrance.

They could see the headless corpse of Slipknot lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Boomerang was about to run out, but Bronze Tiger stopped him, "Wait! This guy has literally been ahead of us since the very beginning. I don't think he'll just let us walk out this easily."

"Yeah, the psychopath is probably right on our tails as we speak. That's why we need to move now!" Boomerang responded.

"But he sealed off every exit to this place but this one. Why is that? I don't think we should go out there." Bronze Tiger said through shallow breaths. He was barely conscious from having his leg amputated, so if it were a trap there was no way he'd be able to avoid it.

"You stay here and get killed then. I want to live." Boomerang then ran out through the entrance. Once he walked out of the doorway and made it to Slipknot corpse, he tripped a wire trap that unleashed a volley of shuriken his way. The former thief thought fast and used two of his boomerangs to deflect as much of the shuriken as he could. His arms and legs got shredded, but he somehow managed to protect his vital areas. Having lost most of his strength and a lot of blood, he dropped his boomerangs and turned towards his partner to tell him that the coast was clear.

Boomerang was on his way to retrieving his injured partner when he heard a strange crunch on the bottom of his boots. He looked down to see that it was a piece of paper with strange writing from a different language on it. Upon examining it, he noticed that there were even more of them on the ground, hidden underneath Slipknots blood. Once the paper in his hand started to ignite, he realized what the true trap was. He looked at his partner and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to him before being blown into bits by all of the paper bombs he was standing over.

Bronze Tiger could only look on as he witnessed his teammate get reduced into a million bloody pieces. Not only did that happen, but the only entrance left was sealed off as a result of it. He was resigned to the fact that he would die here in this place. Soon afterwards, he heard footsteps come up to him and saw that Wrath was looking down on him with a stoic look on his face.

Wrath knelt down until he was at eye level with Bronze Tiger, "I told you it didn't matter if you ran or not. I came here on a mission and I had no intentions of failing it. The world has to pay for the atrocious crimes against my family. We deserve true justice and that justice begins with you all."

"But killing me won't bring back your family," Bronze Tiger replied.

"I'm not trying to bring them back; I'm delivering justice for them. This war is for their justice." Wrath said resolutely.

"You call this war? My team and I had nothing to do with whatever happened to your family. I've fought in wars before and this isn't what it looks like. Hiding in the darkness and attacking from behind is what this was. War is between two sides that know about each other and both have equal chances of winning. War is between nations who choose to fight each other. We didn't know anything about you and we sure as hell didn't choose to fight you. You made the choice for us." Bronze Tiger responded angrily.

"Really? So when you all challenged me to come out of the dark and even threatened to cut my head off, that wasn't a choice to fight me? Well how about this for a choice; scream or don't." Wrath replied coldly.

"No, no, no, no. It doesn't have to be this way. Look we can still go back. All you have to do-" Wrath cut him off, "You want me to spare you, then bring my family back. Bring back everyone you and your teammates have ever killed and I will let you go. That's all I ask of you."

Tiger could only stutter in fear because in all of his years he's never seen this much rage in one man's eyes before. He finally mustered up the courage to respond to Wrath, "What justice is there in killing in the dark? How is the world supposed to fix something that they don't even know is wrong?"

"Trust me when I say that the world will find out about me and my family. I'm not hiding anywhere. I want them to know the name of the usurper who took them down. Tonight, was just a test run for me. My creators needed to know if I was willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission. You all were just guinea pigs in the end. My true target lies beyond the horizon still. Bringing forth true justice is my purpose in life." Wrath responded.

"Justice? You're pure evil. You plan on killing a lot of people…people who haven't done you any wrong whatsoever. You honestly think that the Justice League will just allow that to happen? Are you prepared to go against an army of superhumans and gods?" Bronze Tiger asked.

"Yes, because I know who I'm fighting for. I fight for the lives lost on that fateful night. I fight for those who can't anymore. I even fight for victims who have had their lives ruined by people like you. Murderers, rapists, thieves, people like you and your teammates, and false heroes like the Justice League; I will exact justice for all of the victims created by your legacy of destruction. I will create a new legacy. I'll be your worst nightmare because I fight with the wrath of the dead on my side." Wrath said before using his Mangekyo Sharingan's second ability to grind Bronze Tiger's skull until it was horribly mutilated.

After it was done Wrath stood up, took out his com unit out, and called James, "It's done. They're all dead."

"Good, come back to base to file a report." James ordered.

"Understood." Wrath was about to leave when he started receiving more flashbacks of Itachi's memories. This time it was of the events that transpired after the Uchiha Massacre. Wrath growled in anger _, 'Just you wait, Itachi. My wrath, no…the Uchiha's wrath will come down on you like a force of nature. The world will forever be changed by it. Nothing will stop me; not Waller, not the Justice League, and certainly not you. The war has begun!'_

* * *

 _(Itachi's Earth)_

 _Itachi showed the League what transpired after the massacre of his family. He and Madara had met up and were talking about heading out to the Akatsuki hideout. Itachi told him that there were things he wanted to confirm with the Leaf higher-ups. Afterwards he showed them the private meeting he had with the Third Hokage. The old shinobi expressed gratitude to the teenager for preserving peace in the village, but also deep sorrow for forcing Itachi to have to commit such an act in the first place. Itachi knew that this was unavoidable and so held to ill will towards the village leader. Itachi revealed that he plans to join a group called the Akatsuki so that he could keep an eye on them from the inside. Itachi's goal was to make sure the promise of sparing the Leaf was kept._

 _Afterwards, Leaf Anbu had arrived along with Danzo and the Third Hokage. They saw the results of this dreadful night and felt sorrow for the fallen clan. They discovered that there was one survivor, Itachi's little brother Sasuke. Everyone else was dead. Third Hokage instructed everyone to quickly remove the bodies from the streets and check the insides of the buildings as well. He couldn't let the rest of the Village see this carnage._

" _Who could have done all of this?" Kakashi asked. It was then that Danzo walked up to begin the lie that would forever tarnish Itachi's legacy, "Itachi Uchiha."_

" _Itachi did this?" Yamato asked not believing what he had just heard. Artemis could swear she was about to throw up hearing that vile old man spew lies about her friend._

" _Yes, Itachi Uchiha despised his clan. That is why he killed his best friend Shisui and took his eyes, and caused in-fighting among his brethren…and then finally he committed this atrocity." Danzo said slyly. Everyone in the Team started getting angry for Itachi._

" _To do something so drastic for the sake of your village and your only reward is being vilified for it is just wrong. They don't deserve you, Itachi." Artemis said to her friend._

" _I wish that Danzo creep would get his. This is all his fault." Conner said angrily._

" _No, this was the result of decades of oppression and anger. Everyone is guilty in this." Itachi said defending Danzo._

" _No, Itachi stop defending that creep! They took your family away from you. They made you-" M'gann started but Itachi cut her off._

" _They didn't make me do anything and they didn't take anything away from me. I chose this path." Itachi said as the scene continued to the Third Hokage and Danzo speaking alone as the corpses were collected._

" _This settles everything." Danzo said sounding pleased with himself. Third Hokage responded with as much disgust in his voice as the other had in their hearts at watching this transpire, "What does this settle? Do you not see the huge problem we are left with?!"_

" _I consider it very minor." Danzo responded coldly. Black Canary wished she could have one hour locked in a room with this psychopath and just about every other person there felt the same way._

" _Danzo, I cannot allow you to act on your own authority any longer. Effective immediately, you are relieved of your duties as second in command." Third Hokage ordered. Danzo tried to defend himself, "But Hiruzen, I did it for-"_

" _The good of the Leaf, right? Well guess what, the Uchiha belonged to the Hidden Leaf so that isn't an appropriate defense that you should be making. Your Anbu and Foundation will be dissolved! I will deal with you later. Until then, you are to be confined to your quarters!" The Third Hokage walked away to help salvage what was an already un-salvageable disaster. Artemis had a smug smirk on her face for seeing the old man get ripped into by his boss like that._

" _Serves him right." She said._

" _Agreed." Batman added which shocked everyone around him, "I may be for the mission coming first, but not if the results are this. Danzo was wrong for forcing a child to do this."_

 _Danzo headed out to leave the Uchiha compound and was quickly joined by two of his Anbu as escorts._

" _Lord Danzo, the body count doesn't match up." One of the masked Anbu said. The other one spoke up too, "It's like they all just disappeared. I know because I witnessed everything."_

 _Danzo quickly realized that he was in the presence of Itachi and grew worried. Itachi continued on with his threat, "And I will continue to watch on from a distance. So if you so much as touch Sasuke, I will pass on classified Village intel to every enemy nation the Leaf has."_

 _Itachi them disappeared into a flock of crows and flew off leaving Danzo both shocked and scared much to everyone else's pleasant surprise._

" _Leave it to Itachi to stick it to him in the end." Wally said._

 _The scene changed to Itachi saying his final goodbyes to his village just outside the gates. Suddenly, a pair of anbu emerged from the darkness and confronted Itachi. Robin recognized them as the two Anbu that Danzo had assigned to Itachi a while back._

" _What do you want now?" Itachi asked._

" _You're a Rogue Ninja listed in the Bingo Book, Captain. An S-class, no less. As Foundation members, we want to make it appear like we legitimately pursued you. Please go easy on us."_

 _They both then attack Itachi. Itachi realized very quickly that they were not here for just appearances sake as they suggested. The way they were attacking him actually suggest that they mean to kill him._

" _Your swordsmanship hints at more than just maintaining appearances." Itachi accused._

" _Your Sharingan won't work on us. We won't look into your eyes." The Anbu then leapt forward with an attack, both stabbing Itachi with their swords. Or so they thought. They quickly realized that they were really stabbing each other from the fact that they were bleeding from fatal wounds now._

" _A genjutsu?! How…" Itachi emerged from the shadows once the two were seconds away from dying, "When you first came to me as my subordinates. I embedded a suggestion just in case you were to ever turn your swords on me."_

" _You didn't trust us…from the very beginning?" The fallen shinobi asked._

" _I was a double agent that means I was loyal to not only the Leaf, but to the Uchiha clan as well. To this very day, I still don't know whose spy I was." Itachi said as the two anbu passed away._

" _Wow Itachi, you really do plan ahead. How far does this go?" Artemis asked. M'gann answered for him, "Until the day he dies. From the moment he chose this path, he planned every step from the night of the massacre to his last day alive. Isn't that right, Itachi?"_

" _Yes." He replied._

" _Wait, what do you mean by death?" Artemis asked fearfully. The rest of the Team and the Justice League were also confused by M'gann's statement._

" _You'll just have to continue looking on to find out." Itachi answered as the scene changed to him rejoining Madara. They were both in front of the Akatsuki hideout, "Within the organization, I'm known as Tobi. I'm not an official member. I'm a newbie in the Akatsuki who doesn't possess any spectacular jutsu. You should treat me the same way."_

" _Why hide your true identity?" Itachi asked._

" _If word gets out that Madara Uchiha is still alive, things could get complicated. Only the leader of the Akatsuki, who we're meeting now, knows my true identity." From then on the League was shown the group Itachi spent the rest of his life associated with. A band of thieves, murders, and terrorists all bent on ruling the world and achieving peace._

" _A lifetime of happiness sacrificed to work with scum like them. That truly is a tragic story." Green Arrow commented._

" _Yeah, I hate that you had to live like this because your village was so corrupt." Artemis added._

" _It didn't matter to me because I was happy in the end." Itachi corrected._

" _How? How can anyone be happy after living a life like this?" Superman asked._

" _By the end of all of this, you will see how." Itachi answered as the scene changed again._

* * *

 _They were all transported to the memories of Itachi's early stages with the Akatsuki. They saw him lose his first partner in battle and then be attacked by his second in Orochimaru because of greed. It also showed that the massacre of his clan changed him. He wasn't as kind as he used to be and had no problem resorting to violence instead of finding peaceful resolutions. The change saddened all of them._

 _The scene stopped at Itachi sitting on a pond deck observing sharks as the circle the waters. They could tell that some time had passed since the Uchiha Downfall since Itachi looked older than when they last saw him._

" _What is this?" Robin asked curiously as they all wondered why they were taken here._

" _This is where I met my partner in the Akatsuki. We bonded over the horrible crimes we committed in the past." Itachi explained._

 _They all turned to see a giant blue man carrying an even bigger sword walk up to Itachi and introduce himself, "I'll be teaming up with you from now on. I'm Kisame Hoshigaki, formerly of the Hidden Mist, and an ex-member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Pleased to meet you."_

 _Itachi paid him no mind and brushed him off, which Artemis found both comical and familiar, "Wow, it's almost like I've had this very same conversation before. It's crazy how that happens."_

" _I wasn't even rude with you when we first met." Itachi rebutted._

" _But you were to Carson." That shut the Leaf Shinobi down as the others chuckled at Itachi's expense. Kisame kept persisting even after being ignored._

" _And you are Itachi Uchiha, formerly of the Hidden Leaf. I've heard the rumors of how you slaughtered all of your fellow Uchiha clansmen. I understand you well. In fact, it was for that very reason that I chose to team up with you out of everyone in the Akatsuki. The sensation that comes from killing your comrade is indescribable, isn't it, Itachi?" Kisame asked with glee._

" _You talk too much. You may know a lot about me, but do you know anything about yourself? You got lost in the mist and ended up here. You're nothing but a thug who couldn't figure out where to go. Isn't that so?" Itachi responded coldly._

 _Wally felt chills and the insult wasn't even aimed at him, "So, you've always been Mr. Blunt."_

" _It's hard to correct a flaw that no one points out to you. You should try it some time, Wally." Itachi responded._

" _You mean being more blunt or correcting other people's flaws?" Wally asked sounding confused. Everyone on the Team chuckled as Wally had just proven Itachi's point._

 _Back to the scene, Itachi clearly struck a nerve with Kisame since the blue shinobi raised his sword against Itachi in response. He began explaining how sharks begin to cannibalize each other right from birth. It's because that from birth they all have the mentality of eat or be beaten._

" _From today onward, you and I belong to Akatsuki. Please, be wary of me." Kisame threatened._

" _That goes for you too." Itachi said as a return threat which made Kisame laugh before he returned his blade to its resting spot on his back._

" _Anyway, let's have fun together. And hope that we're not the last two facing each other." Kisame said in a friendly tone._

" _Anyone who has raised their hand against a comrade, even once, never dies a decent death. Remember that." Itachi warned._

" _I guess that means that you and I are already worthless." Kisame replied._

" _No, we aren't fish that are eating each other. We're human. No matter who you are, you don't know what kind of person you really are until the very end. One only realizes their true nature at the moment of death." Itachi explained as the scene went blank and time skipped forward._

" _Wow that was deep. Half the heroes in the League aren't as wise as you were at that age. It's humbling," Hal Jordan commented._

" _How does he turn into a friend of yours? He's despicable," Wonder Woman said disapprovingly._

" _Time changes us all. It allows us to reflect on the past, so that we may one day change our future. I know it from firsthand experience." Itachi answered as the scene changed to Itachi and Kisame looking at the Hidden Leaf Village. Years had passed and the Village looked like it has just got done being ravished._

" _What are you doing back here?" Aqualad asked._

" _The village was recently attacked. I was worried about Sasuke and wanted to check on him. Especially when I found out that the Third Hokage was murdered and Sasuke was being targeted by Orochimaru." Itachi explained._

" _Still looking out for your brother even after what transpired. You are a good big brother, Itachi." Superman complimented._

" _I made a promise to my parents that I intended on keeping."_

* * *

 _The scene changed to Itachi and Kisame standing in the hallway of a hotel with a blonde haired boy. Itachi and his partner had just finished battling Leaf Jonin. The others witnessed Itachi dismantle one of them with just a single glance. But before it escalated even more as more shinobi arrived, Itachi ordered a retreat. In reality, it was because he wanted confront the Leaf higher-ups._

" _My reason for returning wasn't just to check on Sasuke. It was also to remind Danzo and the rest of the Leaf Council that I was still out there watching and it was still in their best interest to leave Sasuke unharmed. The Third Hokage was my only ally in the Leaf so when he died, there was nothing protecting Sasuke from underhanded scum like Danzo anymore." Itachi explained._

" _I think I speak for everyone when I say that we don't blame you one bit." Conner said._

" _Why are you here though? Wouldn't it have been best if you had left?" Captain Marvel asked._

" _I needed to keep up with my reputation, so hunting down the village's jinchuriki would help maintain my rouse." Itachi answered as the scene played out._

" _Is that why you let those ninja from earlier detect you?" Batman asked._

" _No, that was just a coincidence. But I did use it to my advantage." Itachi answered._

" _How is that?" Wonder Woman asked._

" _They made sure that my younger brother knew I was nearby. I wanted to assess his strength." Itachi answered as the scene played out._

 _Itachi and Kisame were debating on how they would capture Naruto. Itachi just wanted to make it fast, while Kisame felt the need to severe a few of the boy's limbs incase he tried to escape._

" _Say Itachi, it'll be a pain in the neck if this kid tries to run away. Maybe I should chop off a leg just in case." Kisame suggested sadistically. Not feeling like arguing anymore, Itachi decided to allow his partner to do whatever he felt like with the child. The others looked on in horror, but M'gann reminded them that Itachi had to play the villain._

 _Just as Kisame was about to maim Naruto, Itachi spoke up and address the one person he was truly interested in, "It's been a long time…Sasuke."_

 _Everyone turned to see Itachi's little brother, Sasuke, standing down the hall. He had the angriest and most vengeful look that any of them had ever seen before or will ever see again._

" _Wow, seeing your brother like that must have been intense for you." Wally said._

" _No, it was disappointing." Itachi pointed to the scene as the others were about to ask what he meant by disappointing._

" _Itachi Uchiha!" Sasuke said solemnly. Everyone took note of how much anger was in Sasuke's voice when he uttered his brother's name. It was like just the mere mention of him drove the young man insane._

" _Well, a Sharingan. And he looks an awful lot like you. Itachi, who is this kid?" Kisame asked._

" _He's my younger brother." Itachi answered stoically._

" _That's strange because the way I heard it the whole Uchiha Clan was murdered…by you." Kisame said now entertained by this reunion of the brothers._

" _Itachi Uchiha…I hope you're ready to die. It's just as you said all those years ago brother. I fostered my hatred for you all this time. I've lived my life for one single purpose. To see you die! It ends here!" Sasuke proclaimed._

 _Itachi watched as Sasuke performed Chidori, which was a high level jutsu that shinobi his age don't usually master. He would have been impressed, if not for how wild and out of control Sasuke came rushing in as he attempted to kill Itachi._

' _Not good enough. He still needs more time…and motivation. He's let feelings other than hate fill his heart. I need to correct that before it's too late.' Itachi thought as he countered his brother's strike._

 _Itachi easily brushed off Sasuke's attack with only one hand. Sasuke went to throw a punch with his free had, but Itachi stopped it by breaking the wrist of the hand he held captive. It resulted in Sasuke falling to his knees and wailing in pain. Naruto wasn't having it anymore and tried to fight back, but Kisame easily rendered him useless with just one swing of his sword._

 _Kisame decided that in order to eliminate Naruto mounting anymore resistance against them, he should sever the boy's arms first. Before Kisame could do that, the boy's guardian, the legendary Jiraiya, had appeared to defend him._

" _I know that Naruto is the reason why you're here," Jiraiya proclaimed. Itachi stared on impressed, "So you're how Kakashi knew about us. You're right, Naruto is the prize that the Akatsuki are after, and we will have him."_

 _He and the toad sage were about to fight, when Sasuke spoke up again, "Stay out of this. The only one, who's going to kill him…is me!"_

 _Sasuke slowly rose to his feet so that he could challenge his brother once more. Internally, Itachi was impressed with Sasuke's determination, but externally he needed to keep appearances up and so he coldly dismissed his younger brother's ambitions, "Go away. I have no interest in you."_

 _Sasuke rushed forward anyways and was soundly put down with a solid side kick from Itachi that sent his flying all the way across the hallway. Sasuke persisted and rushed his brother again, but the result was the same as Itachi kneed him and back-fisted him so hard that he was sent flying down the hall again._

' _So this is your limit. Two strikes and you can't even make hand signs anymore. What have you been doing, little brother? I see you need a reminder.' Itachi thought seriously as he decided to oblige his brother on the fight he wanted._

 _Everyone watched Itachi slowly walk up to him until he was towered over the downed body of his brother. He then started to beat his brother to within an inch of his life. Sasuke didn't stand a chance. He couldn't even defend himself anymore. Itachi just had his way with him._

" _Why are you doing this to your brother?" Superman asked while feeling uncomfortable watching the scene._

" _To show him how weak he was compared to me. To motivate him to get stronger before time ran out." Itachi answered vaguely._

" _What do you mean before time runs out?" Kaldur asked._

 _Itachi kept silent as the scene showed him grabbing Sasuke by his collar and choking him. He wanted to absolutely humiliate his brother._

" _You're still too weak. You don't have enough hate. And you know what; you never will." Itachi whispered tauntingly to his brother. He then put his brother under the Tsukuyomi and tortured him with the genjutsu until his brother passed out. He showed Sasuke the night he slaughtered their clan to remind him that he was still as weak as the night it all happened. To remind him that nothing had changed._

 _Once Sasuke was taken out, Jiraiya attempted to apprehend them, but Itachi used the Amaterasu so that he and Kisame could escape. Itachi had accomplished all he set out to do in the village. Itachi decided that he needed rest because his body was feeling weak from using such powerful attacks._

" _Jeez, you beat the living crap out of your brother. It didn't bother you seeing how angry and hurt he was? You didn't have to do that." Artemis stated as the others agreed. They too wanted an explanation. Itachi sighed as he knew he couldn't put it off any longer._

" _I normally wouldn't have acted like that, but Sasuke needed to get stronger as fast as possible because I didn't know how much time I had left. And in order for the Uchiha Clan to get true justice, and I finally pay for my crimes, it had to be Sasuke who killed me."Itachi answered._

" _What was stopping that from happening?" J'onn asked. M'gann shed a tear as she pointed to Itachi when he got to his and Kisame's hiding spot. They all witnessed Itachi cough up a lot of blood despite not once being touched._

" _Why is that happening to you?" Artemis asked worriedly about her friend._

" _I was dying. At some point in time, I contracted a terminal illness. I had three years left at the most before the disease would kill me. And the longer I fought it, the more painful it got. A disease couldn't be what redeemed the Uchiha; Sasuke had to be. That's why I was pushing him so hard." Itachi answered._

 _The others stood the silent as they witnessed the disease start to ravish Itachi's health. It was uncomfortable to watch for them. Fortunately, Itachi skipped ahead to the next important even that happened to him._

" _What are you going to show us now?" Conner asked._

" _The event that gave me hope that my brother could overcome the curse of my clan." They were then teleported two years in time to when he confronts Naruto prior to his fated duel with his brother._

* * *

(Part 1 of the truth done!) Whew! That took a lot longer than I had expected. Oh yeah I almost forgot, I'm back! It's been too long. With boot camp and "A" School, I was always swamped for time. But that's all done now! I've missed you guys so much! Thanks for all of the support you all gave me and now that I am a U.S. Sailor, I know that more love is to come. Wrath is on a mission to make change and I can't wait to show you all how he plans on doing it. It won't take me three months this time, I promise. Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews while I was gone. Let's keep it up and get this ball rolling again! Don't forget to send me a review or a PM to let me know what you think of these last few chapters! Until next time guys and gals!


	22. Change

_Everyone saw Itachi and the blonde haired child from earlier facing off in the forest, only this time things were considerable different. For starters, Naruto looked a lot older because of the two year time-skip. Another difference was the appearance of Itachi. To the untrained eye it only looked like he aged slightly, but to a detective like Batman it was like Itachi had aged a lifetime. No matter how well Itachi tried to hide it, Batman could see that Itachi was suffering greatly from his disease and was on his last legs of life._

" _Why aren't you in a hospital getting treatment?" The dark knight asked._

" _It was already too late for me. I needed to act now or I'd lose my opportunity forever." Itachi answered._

" _What end game could possibly be worth your life you idiot?" Artemis asked._

" _The redemption of my clan and the future of my brother. Too bad as it turned out, I failed at both in the end." Itachi answered with a hint of sadness in his voice._

 _The scene started to play out as Naruto got ready to fight Itachi. He thought that if he could capture the rogue ninja here, then that would give him the best chance of seeing Sasuke again and finally bring him back home to the Leaf._

" _Why do you care so much about my little brother? He's merely a rogue ninja now." Itachi asked the young jinchuriki._

" _That's because I think of him as more of a brother than you ever could!" Naruto answered defiantly._

 _That answer made Itachi do something for the first time in almost a decade; smile. That answer was all he needed to know about the type of friend Sasuke had in Naruto. The others around him though were still confused._

" _Why are you smiling? He just insulted the entire reason for you doing this?" Conner asked._

" _Because he showed me that I wasn't the only one looking out for my brother. He had other people who cared about him as much as I did." Itachi said with a look of peace on his face._

 _Naruto charged at the Akatsuki member, but was put under a genjutsu almost immediately._

" _You are already inside of my genjutsu. Calm down, I merely wish to speak with you. You want to bring Sasuke back, right? If things didn't work out the way you want them to, what would you do?" Itachi asked genuinely curious. The others didn't get why Itachi was doing this or why it was so important of an event in his life._

" _I would do whatever it takes to bring him back!" Naruto proclaimed._

" _Even by force? If Sasuke chose to willingly return with you to the village, that would be fine, but what if the complete opposite were to happen? What would you do?" Itachi inquired._

" _What do you mean?" The blonde asked while being puzzled by the question._

" _Earlier, you said that you think of Sasuke as a brother, right? I want to hear what you would do if that same Sasuke decided to attack the Leaf Village." Itachi asked as if he was testing the teenager._

" _What? Why would Sasuke do that? He would never do such a thing." Naruto said not believing that his friend was capable of such a thing._

" _Sasuke is still like a blank canvas. He still can be influenced very easily. If that were to happen, would you be able to stop him? Even if you had to kill him? Does Sasuke mean more to you than the village?" Itachi said as if he were goading Naruto._

" _I will protect the Leaf! And I will stop Sasuke without killing him!" Naruto answered with all the conviction he had. Itachi stared at him with discontent._

" _You're still a child. Everything you've said so for is nothing but wishful thinking. There are times when a shinobi has to make harsh decisions." Itachi said in a scolding manner._

" _Wow, talk about condescending." Captain Marvel noted._

" _He reminds me of you all." Itachi said offhandedly._

" _Is that a good thing or bad thing?" Kid Flash asked._

 _Itachi ignored them and let the group decide for themselves whether that was good or bad. Naruto then defended his decision, saying that he had no choice because his ninja way was to never go back on his word, and he promised a friend that he would bring Sasuke back home and save him from the darkness. His answer was all Itachi needed to hear._

 _He sent a raven to plunge itself inside of Naruto. Much to the disgust over everyone watching, "I have given you some of my powers. Though I hope the day never comes when you may have to use them."_

 _Naruto fell to the ground from shock and demanded to know what was really going on. Naruto was positive that he was Itachi's target and was perplexed why all he wanted to do was talk. Itachi kindly made his leave and for once in a long time, he sounded like his old childhood self again._

" _I'll be going now. There's something important I have to take care of." Itachi then dispersed into crows and waited. He had another clone out to draw the true focus of his attention._

" _What's going? What was the important thing you had to take care of?" Wally asked._

" _My brother. It was time for our final battle." Itachi answered as everything changed around him until he was at the Uchiha Hideout, the place of his death._

* * *

 _M'gann shuddered at having to see all of this over again, "I'm sorry, M'gann. I know how watching this made you feel last time."_

" _As long as the others understand you better, I'll watch again." M'gann replied trying to ease him._

" _What's going to happen next? It can't be as bad as you're making it out to be." Robin said trying to play down all of the melodrama around him. M'gann just looked at him and shook her head which let him know that whatever they were about to see next will shake most of them to the core._

 _They all saw Sasuke showed up to the hideout. He had the same look of hatred in his eyes, even after all these years. They could tell that this would be a war between the two brothers. Itachi was sitting on a throne like chair, almost as if he was symbolizing that he was the top Uchiha alive. Itachi addressed his brother by asking him how much he could see with his Sharingan. Sasuke responded by saying that he could finally see Itachi dead at his feet._

" _You see me dead, do you? Well then, go on. Make it happen." Itachi said as he sped out of the throne and into a clash of blows with Sasuke. Itachi and Sasuke were engaged into a fight that almost resembled a dance. Sasuke tried to stab Itachi with his sword, but was countered perfectly by Itachi's kunai. Whenever Itachi would try to land a strike or kick Sasuke would maneuver his blade to take the brunt of the hit. It was the most acrobatic exchange of close combat Itachi's companions had ever seen._

 _Itachi had gotten past Sasuke's defenses and knocked him off balance while simultaneously jumping in the air. Sasuke recovered fast and tried to thrust his sword into his brother, but missed because Itachi thought ahead by jumping. Itachi was able to grab his brother and slam him to the ground by his collar, which made Sasuke lose control of his sword as it got lodged into the ceiling._

 _Sasuke got some distance and used his Chidori to go for a fatal blow. He rushed forward like back in the hallway all those years ago, except this time he stopped and turned his jutsu into Chidori Stream. A stream of lightning shot towards Itachi and caused him to leap upwards to avoid it. Unfortunately, Sasuke was waiting there for him with his sword in his hand. He quickly leapt forward and stabbed Itachi right through his stomach and sent him hurdling to the ground._

 _Everyone had wide, scared eyes as they saw Itachi on the ground with a sword through his stomach. Itachi, though, was impressed by his brother's improvement in such a short period of time, "You…have gotten stronger."_

" _Listen close, Itachi. I have one final thing to ask of you," Sasuke stopped when Itachi extended his arm like when he did whenever he was about to poke Sasuke's forehead. Only this time, Itachi aimed his fingers back at the thrown where he originally was sitting. Everyone, including Sasuke, saw that there sat Itachi who was completely unharmed. Artemis voiced her confusion._

" _What? How? We just saw you with a blade in your stomach. How are you there and on the ground? Did you use a clone?" She asked. M'gann explained to them that this wasn't going to be a typical fight. "Guys, Sasuke has the same eyes that Itachi does. A lot of this fight will be genjutsu and illusions. What you just saw was the first one. Because Itachi is showing us his memory, we're seeing exactly what he did. If not for him, we'd just be looking at the two of them staring at each other."_

" _So everything in this fight is an illusion?" Superman asked._

" _No, trust me when I say I wish it were." M'gann answered sadly. Sasuke figured out pretty quickly that Itachi was using his favorite genjutsu to mess with him. Itachi looked on and decided to answered whatever questions his brother had to ask, "So what do you want to know? It won't be the last thing, but I'll hear what you have to say."_

" _Let me try this again," Itachi looked down to see that his brother was hidden behind his throne and had successfully stabbed him through it. A jolt of pain and a cough of blood ran through Itachi's body. It was revealed that the Sasuke in front of Itachi was a clone created by Sasuke's genjutsu, "I have one last thing to ask. You will answer my question. The pain in your chest won't stop until you do."_

" _Wait is this genjutsu or is this real now?" Captain Marvel asked._

" _Be patient and watch. Itachi shouldn't have to answer something every five minutes." M'gann replied._

" _Sorry, it's just he's our friend and we're worried." Robin responded. M'gann found that comical, "Really? Because last I heard he was nothing but a murderer to you and Wally."_

 _That made Robin and Wally put their heads down in shame. Green Arrow intervened on their behalf, "Look, there was no way any of us could know that this could get so…complicated. We should have waited for Itachi's side before casting judgment and we're sorry."_

" _You should be." Artemis said to her fake uncle. They all went back to watching Itachi sit on a throne with a sword through his chest. Batman knew that by the way the blade was positioned Itachi's brother had missed all of his vital spots. But he also knew that was probably by design so he could interrogate him._

 _Sasuke then went to ask him about the other man Itachi mentioned that had a Mangekyo Sharingan because he wanted to kill him after Itachi. Sasuke then showed more of his maturity by deducing that Itachi had an accomplice to help him slaughter their clan because not even he was strong enough to kill the entire police force by himself. Itachi smiled to himself after hearing that. He decided to indulge his brother and give Sasuke his name, "Madara Uchiha."_

 _Sasuke refused to belief it because Madara should be long dead by now, but Itachi assured him that Madara was indeed alive. Itachi then spoke on disbelief and reality, "Each of us lives dependent and bound by our individual knowledge and our awareness. All of that is called reality. However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One's reality might be another's illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies. Don't you think that's true, Sasuke?"_

" _Thinking Madara is dead is merely an arbitrary assumption you've made; in exactly the same way you assumed I was your kind and gentle older brother" Itachi said coldly._

" _What happened that night…I was so young. I thought it was all merely an illusion. I wanted so badly to believe that I was just stuck in a horrifying genjutsu but it was no mistake; I was trapped in reality!" Sasuke shouted as he aimed a Chidori stream behind him. As it turns out, Itachi sat behind him, yet again completely unharmed because of the genjutsu._

" _My eyes are not the same as they once were. My eyes can see through genjutsu." Sasuke declared. Itachi barely even acknowledged his claim, "You speak with such confidence as you always do. Well for now, I'm willing to take your word for it."_

 _The image of a stabbed Itachi disappeared, leaving only the real one to stare down Sasuke. Sasuke had enough of Itachi's genjutsu and wanted to get on with killing him. Itachi headed against his brother's arrogance, "Confidence is fine, but it appears that you still do not possess the same eyes as I do. So you just couldn't do it. You couldn't kill your best friend, but you dare to come before me to face me with such weak resolve."_

" _Alright, just get it over with and try to kill me with your Mangekyo Sharingan then. Or am I too strong for you to dare to test you capabilities on against mine." Sasuke said as a jab to Itachi's reason for killing their family._

 _Itachi stood up and got ready for combat but first decided to give his brother a history lesson on their clan's strongest weapon, "The Mangekyo Sharingan are very special eyes. The moment they awaken they progress towards darkness. And the more they're used the faster they're sealed. In other words, the Mangekyo eventually lose their light."_

" _Blindness, that's the drawback for having that power. Itachi, you were going blind at this point, weren't you?" Batman asked._

" _Yes, it's part of our family curse, in more ways than one. At this point I could barely make out Sasuke's facial features." He answered as the scene continued. Itachi began to explain to Sasuke that Madara is an immortal who took him under his wing. He also was the man who discovered the other secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan._

 _Sasuke demanded to know what the other secret was, so Itachi answered him with another history lesson. He showed Sasuke a genjutsu of Madara and his younger brother. Itachi told him about how Madara had younger brother with whom he trained with since they were small children. Eventually, both of them killed their best friends and unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan. Madara had used his too much and eventually went blind. That is the Mangekyo Sharingan's fate. Madara tried everything he could to reclaim his sight, but nothing worked. So in an act of desperation, Madara stole his brother's eyes from out of his socket, much to the disgust of everyone watching, and transplanted them as his new eyes._

 _After doing that not only did Madara reclaim his vision, he also made it so that his light would never be lost again. It is an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Because they found a new host, Madara's brother's eyes gained eternal light and new visual power. Madara would use his new eyes to gain power and eventually fight for control of the Leaf. He failed in that, but returned to destroy it by unleashing the nine-tails fox. He failed in that too._

" _People in your family used to do that?! Kill their best friends and then take their siblings' eyes. That's inhumane." Hal Jordon protested._

" _It's complicated. It didn't happen that way. Sasuke just needs to think it did." Itachi explained._

" _Why though?" Robin asked. Batman answered for Itachi, "To keep up with the rouse. Itachi needs Sasuke to believe that he is the enemy. This story helps push that agenda forward."_

" _Madara is a bitter, defeated loser now. He is not worthy to wield the Uchiha's true power. I am the one. I shall surpass Madara and achieve real greatness. And now I can finally obtain power that exceeds Madara's. Sasuke, you are the one who will become my new light! You have my spare eyes! Activating the Mangekyo Sharingan always required an Uchiha to kill a friend. Parents and siblings killed each other to obtain eternal light. We're both from a tainted bloodline that's advanced its strength this way throughout the ages. And from the day you were born into this clan, you have been unavoidably inclined to this blood-filled fate. Now come, little brother! I shall kill you to obtain my true transformation and finally be free from our clan's fate! I shall break loose from all of the restrictions and free myself from all of the constraints that bind me! We are each other's spares! This is the true bond between the brothers of the Uchiha!" Itachi declared._

" _Dude, this is the first time I've ever heard you yell before. Never yell again." Wally said trying to calm himself down._

" _If I didn't know that you were secretly a good guy, I would have thought you were insane too." Conner commented._

" _I had to make sure he had no doubts about my false intent to kill him. I had to make it real." Itachi explained._

" _You succeeded. I swear you must have been an actor of some kind in a different life." Artemis commented while trying to shake the shivers down her spine away._

 _Itachi went on lamenting how futile it was for Sasuke to fight him because he lacked the visual prowess of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke responded by saying that whatever he lacked in visual prowess, he would more than make up for in his hatred of his brother._

" _I will use my hatred to turn fantasy into reality. And your reality is death!" That ended the dialogue between the brothers. After that, Itachi and Sasuke started throwing shuriken at each other with great velocity. Endless amount of shuriken were thrown and the sounds of clashing metal filled the room. Superman noted how he's seen automatic guns that couldn't fire at the rate the brothers were doing now._

 _The most impressive part was that they weren't just randomly throwing them at each other. Each one was precisely targeted to either kill or deflect or incoming shuriken. After the clash was over, both of them met in the middle in a gridlock of death. A sword in Sasuke's hand and a kunai in Itachi's. Sasuke was starting to struggle, but Itachi remained calm as a shadow clone leapt up behind him to strike Sasuke now that he was held in place._

 _The attack shocked Sasuke and would cause him to summon a snake to deflect the kunai launched by the clone. The snake also caused Itachi to let go and get some distance from Sasuke. The snake disappeared and revealed Sasuke with a demon-wind shuriken primed and ready for launch. He threw it at Itachi's clone, who tried to deflect it with his kunai, but failed because Sasuke's shuriken had the Chidori running through it. It easily cut through the kunai and sliced Itachi's clone until it dispersed into a flock of crows that flew towards Sasuke. Itachi used this to blitz Sasuke and kick him back into the wall behind him hard enough to make a crater in the wall. Itachi gave Sasuke no room to recover and continued the onslaught as he restrained Sasuke against the wall._

 _He then positioned his hand so that it was on his left eye socket, "Forgive me, Sasuke. This is my reality. Give me your light."_

 _He then gouged Sasuke's eye out of its socket which caused Sasuke to wail in immense pain. M'gann looked away, not being able to watch this a second time. The others looked in horror as Itachi maimed his brother, reminding them of just how brutal this feud was going to be. Artemis thought to herself that no matter how much she hated her sister, she could never bring herself to gouging her eyes out. Itachi had resolve like no one she'd ever seen before._

 _Sasuke covered his eye as blood poured from it. Itachi continued to taunt his brother for not having the eyes strong enough to defeat him. He then went to retrieve the other one. Sasuke used the power of his curse mark to back Itachi off of him before he had the chance, showing Itachi for the first time what the power of his curse mark was. Itachi pocketed Sasuke's eye into a vial and constrained him with a clone that snuck from out of the crater in the wall._

" _This is the difference in our strengths and the difference between your eyes and mine." Itachi then walked up to his brother and prepared to take his other eye. Sasuke stopped him at the last moment once he realized that he was in a genjutsu, by using his curse mark. Everyone watched at the world around them began to shatter like glass._

 _Everyone was soon returned to the real world as the brother showed their exhaustion. The others were both confused and relieved. They were confused as to when the genjutsu even started, to which Itachi answered that it started right when Sasuke destroyed his clone. They were also relieved that the horrible sight that they saw was just an illusion. They gasped when they saw Itachi fall to his knees while clutching his left eye in pain._

" _Why did you fall like that," Robin asked. Itachi explained that the genjutsu he used was the Tsukuyomi. It is the most powerful genjutsu currently in existence and requires a lot of chakra to use. So having it broken on top of all of the chakra he used to activate it, drained him immensely._

 _Itachi was in shock that his brother broke through his genjutsu. Sasuke wasn't because he was positive that his hatred would win him this battle. Once he recovered, Itachi made it known that he was going to gouge his brother's eyes out for real this time. Itachi had gotten serious and decided that the rest of this fight would be of physical strength rather than visual prowess._

 _Itachi weaved hand signed for a jutsu, but was stopped when his brother quickly summoned and threw a demon-wind towards him. Itachi had to stop what he was doing and prepare to evade the shuriken. Using his Sharingan, Itachi saw that there was a second shuriken hidden under the first one, and to make things even more difficult Sasuke ran his Chidori through both of them. Itachi waited till the last possible second and lunged in between both of the shuriken._

 _Sasuke turned the tables when he revealed a wire attached to both of them. It was meant to rig the shuriken to disperse into smaller pieces so that Itachi would have less time to evade them all. It worked as one of the blades lodged itself deeply into Itachi's left hamstring. He fell in a painful heap as a result and had to pull the large shuriken part out of his leg._

" _Wow, your brother is good. I don't know how you could have dodged that," Robin noted. Batman, on the other hand, thought something was off, "I've seen you dodge much more intricate and faster traps before, Itachi. Whether it was from your illness or loss of sight, you were fighting while severely handicapped based on that reaction speed."_

" _When your brother countered your jutsu it severely swayed the momentum of the battle." Aquaman noted._

 _Sasuke weaved the hand signs for a jutsu that everyone had become familiar with, the fireball jutsu. The large fire blast caused Itachi to leap upwards to avoid it, but Sasuke was prepared for it and had his Chidori ready to strike a defenseless Itachi. The result was an explosion towards the ceiling of the room._

 _Everyone looked on worried, but out of the smoke came Itachi who unleashed a fireball jutsu of his own as he landed on the roof. Sasuke used the wings of his curse mark to shield him from the blast as they faced off against each other on the roof. After the dust had settled, both brothers unleashed each of their own powerful fireball jutsu towards the other._

 _It was a standstill between the two at first, but after a while Sasuke's jutsu started to overpower Itachi's. Sensing that he was going to lose this contest, Itachi countered by unleashing the infamous Amaterasu. It incinerated both of the fireballs until nothing remained._

 _Sasuke decided that a moving target was harder to hit than a stationary one and went on the move. Itachi kept on the attack and unleashed his Amaterasu at his brother. At first he missed and only was able to set the surrounding forest ablaze, but with time Sasuke slowed down just enough for Itachi to get a hit on him through Sasuke's wing. Itachi quickly put the fire out once Sasuke was down to preserve his brother's eyes. As he went to grab them he saw his brother's body dissolve into acid._

 _Itachi then fell to the ground and started hacking up a lot of blood. The others could see that the disease was killing him and felt sadness for seeing their friend suffer like this. Out of nowhere, a large fire blast in the form of a dragon sprouted out of the ground. Itachi moved quickly in order to evade it, but even more dragon blasts shot upwards. None of the blasts hit Itachi and they seemed to use the last bit of chakra Sasuke had; the same could be said about Itachi and his chakra levels._

 _Sasuke told his brother that this next jutsu of his would be his last, but Itachi didn't believe him. He knew that Sasuke was out of chakra thanks to his Sharingan. Sasuke smirked at his brother and chided him for thinking that he didn't have a plan in place for killing Itachi._

" _This jutsu is like the Amaterasu. It's impossible to avoid!" As Sasuke said that, strong thunder and lightning danced around in the sky above them. Superman figured out what Sasuke meant to do, "He's going to use the lightning in the sky and throw it at Itachi. That's why he shot all of those fire blasts upward. It was to heat up the atmosphere above and create a powerful rising air current. He basically created lightning with fire."_

" _It's also why he lured you outside, Itachi. He wanted to use the flames of your Amaterasu to help. Sasuke really did come prepared," Wonder Woman said while being astonished._

" _Lightning can reach the ground faster than the speed of sound, the only people who would have been able to avoid this is Supes and me. Wally isn't even fast enough yet to get away," Flash said as the lightning took the form of a dragon._

 _Sasuke jumped up to the highest pillar and controlled the lightning dragon as if it were a tamed pet. Sasuke revealed that the name of this jutsu was Kirin and then unleashed it on his brother. Everything was blown away less than a second later; only rubble was left. Everyone feared that this was how Itachi died and Artemis looked down with tears in her eyes._

 _M'gann told her that it wasn't over yet. Artemis looked back up and smiled when she heard Itachi whisper on the ground, "Is this…the death you had imagined for me?"_

 _Everyone saw a broken, bloodied Itachi, but also one that was still alive. Sasuke cursed vehemently as he saw that his brother was indeed still amongst the living. Everyone saw that what saved Itachi was his Susanoo._

" _Leave it to Itachi to survive a concentrated lightning blast." Robin said joyfully. Everyone saw Itachi smile as he slowly got back to his feet, "If I hadn't had this, I'd have been dead. You really have gotten stronger, Sasuke. This is my final trump card, the Susanoo."_

 _Itachi then told his brother that he had better pull out any backup plans he had because the battle had just restarted thanks to Itachi's Susanoo. All Sasuke could do was call on chakra that he didn't even have to use the curse mark to go into stage two. Itachi's Susanoo started creating muscle, skin and cloth to go from its skeletal phase to all the way to its armored phase._

" _What's the matter? Did you use up all your chakra and run out of options," Itachi goaded. Batman caught on and grew curious why Itachi kept mentioning Sasuke's chakra level. It was like he was trying to force something specific to happen._

 _Everyone then saw Sasuke fall to the ground and struggle about. Then eight large white snakes sprouted from out of his body. They were even larger than Itachi's Susanoo. Itachi recognized it as Orochimaru's Eight-Headed Serpent Jutsu. The two behemoths then started to clash. Itachi's Susanoo easily decapitated seven of the eight giant white snakes. He didn't take any damage because his Yata Mirror deflected all of their attacks. The last of the snake heads opened its mouth wide and revealed a still living Orochimaru who was laughing maniacally._

" _There you are." Itachi said while eyeing his former Akatsuki partner._

" _Finally! I've been waiting for this! Thanks to you, Sasuke used up all of the chakra he had been suppressing me with. Now I can finally take over this child's body for good! And so-" Itachi wasted no time in stabbing the madman with his Totsuka Blade._

 _At first Orochimaru laughed at Itachi attacked, but when he found out it was the Totsuka Blade he showed it the reverence it deserved. Everyone saw Orochimaru get sucked into the gourd that held Itachi's sword. It sucked every bit of Orochimaru up, even the chakra that was being used by Sasuke. In short, Itachi had just freed Sasuke from the curse mark and any power Orochimaru held over him._

" _That's why you kept goading your brother. You wanted to force him to bring out that creep's power," Black Canary started._

" _That way you could absorb it and free Sasuke. I didn't know you were this good at multitasking. You were fighting your brother and saving him all at the same time," Green Arrow noted._

" _It was my fault Orochimaru even had a chance at Sasuke. When he betrayed the Akatsuki I settled for taking his hand when I should have just taken his life. And because of my mistake he set his hooks into Sasuke. I had no intentions of making that same mistake again." Itachi explained._

" _What happened to him? Not that I care about the creep or anything." Wally asked._

" _I sealed him into the Totsuka Blade. To keep it simple; he's in an eternal genjutsu living out his worst nightmare for all eternity. There is no way out of it as far as I'm aware of. I couldn't free him even if I had wanted to. I usually only use it as a last resort because of that fact." Itachi answered._

" _That's a pretty unbeatable sword. And with your shield there's no way you could lose a fight when healthy." Conner said._

" _No, every tool has weaknesses." Itachi corrected. Superman was a perfect example of that. Until now, the God-like hero thought only a rock from space could hurt him, but he just found out that a simple stab from a sword can seal him and the entire League up forever with no way of returning. It's why none of them seemed as impressed by the tool as the younger hero's were; except for Marvel who wasn't hard to impress at all. Instead, they all grew worried about the power Itachi held and made a note to speak on it when this was over._

" _Let me know when you find out that sword's weakness then bud," Wally joked. The joking stopped when Itachi fell to the ground and started coughing up more blood than even before. That was one of the risks of the Susanoo; prolonged use caused severe damage to a person's cells._

" _Now, your eyes are mine. I'll take my time retrieving them." The stress from the battle and from his disease causes Itachi to drop to his knees in pain. He couldn't stop coughing up blood and as a result his Susanoo started to die down with him._

 _Sasuke tried to take advantage by throwing kunai with paper bombs, but Itachi had recovered in time to reestablish his Susanoo and block it. He then stepped forward to achieve his ultimate goal._

 _Sasuke got desperate and tried throwing everything he had left, but it was all in vain. Itachi's Susanoo has the ultimate defense thanks to the Yata Mirror._

" _They're my eyes…they're mine." Itachi said in the scariest way possible as he stalked his brother. Sasuke made one final attempt by trying to stab his brother with his sword, but was foolishly tossed away. Sasuke soon found himself with no tools and no options left. Because of the destruction of the battlefield and the lack of chakra, he couldn't even run away._

 _Everyone saw Sasuke back up until he was up against a large piece of debris with the Uchiha crest. They could see the fear Sasuke felt as his breath was caught and his knees started shaking when his brother had finally caught up to him._

 _With no vision left and blood all over his mouth and hands, Itachi slowly stopped in front of his brother. Itachi appeared like he was going to gouge Sasuke's eyes out, but to his brother's surprise he only poked his forehead like when they were children. Sasuke looked up to see his brother genuinely smiling like how he used to all those years ago. It was like this that Itachi spoke his final words, "I'm sorry, Sasuke. This is the end."_

 _Everyone then looked on as Itachi's Susanoo disappeared in an instant. And to everyone's horror, Itachi went head first into the debris behind Sasuke and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Everyone looked on as Itachi's eyes had no life in them and he showed no signs of breathing; He had died after uttering those words to his brother._

 _Everything around them went black and the only sounds heard were that of M'gann and Artemis crying for their friend. Even Conner silently shed a tear. They had all just witnessed their friend die._

" _You died…you really died." Robin said not believing it. Wally was confused, "But if you died there, how are you here now?"_

" _In my world death is not the end for us. It is only the beginning." Itachi said as things changed around them. They were in Madara's hideout, Mountains' Graveyard. They soon all witnessed to Itachi, or a reanimated version of Itachi, walk out of a casket. He started to walk away with another reanimated corpse into the distance._

" _You're back…but how is that possible. The dead don't just come back to life and walk away." Black Canary said._

" _The limits of your world have no effect on mine. Unfortunately, it's not too uncommon for the dead to have their rest disturbed for the ambitions of a madman." Itachi answered._

" _Why you though? What could possibly be worth disrespecting the dead like that?" Kaldur asked._

" _War, the Fourth Great Ninja War. My eyes had the power to turn the tides of the war in either direction and are why I was revived." Itachi answered._

" _Great, they won't let you live and they won't let you die. Not even death could save you from being used by evil and it makes me sick just thinking about it." Artemis vented. Itachi walked over to his friend and spoke directly to her, "You're wrong. I wasn't being used by evil. I was given a second chance to right all of my wrongs."_

" _What did you do that was so wrong?" She retorted. Itachi gave her a sad look, "I ruined my brother's life and filled him with so much hatred that the whole world became his enemy. I was wrong for that and needed to save him like how I should have done from the very start."_

" _What could you possibly have done differently?" She asked. The scene changed to Itachi and his companion, Nagato, meeting up with Naruto and a friend of his, "Tell him the truth."_

* * *

(Part 2 of the truth done!) Whew! That took a lot longer than I had expected. Oh yeah I almost forgot, I'm back! It's been too long. With boot camp and "A" School, I was always swamped for time. But that's all done now! I've missed you guys so much! Thanks for all of the support you all gave me and now that I am a U.S. Sailor, I know that more love is to come. Wrath is on a mission to make change and I can't wait to show you all how he plans on doing it. It won't take me three months this time, I promise. Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews while I was gone. Let's keep it up and get this ball rolling again! Don't forget to send me a review or a PM to let me know what you think of these last few chapters! Until next time guys and gals!


	23. Trust

Wrath was on his way back to the Argus black site. He had just seen his counterpart be killed by their younger brother, but for some reason it gave him no satisfaction. He found out why when not moments later he witnessed Itachi being revived. He swore that the next time Itachi died, he would stay dead.

He stopped suddenly when he felt a presence following him, "You can come out now. You're not very good at stealth. If you show yourself now, I'll make your death brutal but quick."

"Who says I was trying to be sneaky. The time for that is over. That's why you were created in the first place." The figure responded as it revealed itself as the Masked Stranger.

"You got some nerve showing up here. Now die!" Wrath said as he unleashed a fire blast towards his assailant. The Masked Stranger quickly dashed away at blinding speed to dodge the attack which hit the abandoned building behind them and set it ablaze, "You really have a temper. You're never going to defeat Itachi if all you are is vengeance and anger. True justice can never come from it."

"You must really want to die." Wrath growled. He didn't like being psychoanalyzed at all. The Masked Stranger simply sat down on the edge of the rooftop, "I merely want to talk. About you of course. I think I'm owed that since I am the one responsible for your creation."

"But Waller-" Wrath started until he was cut off, "Is just as much a tool as everyone else in this world. You see, I need you as much as you need me."

"What do I need you for? I can kill Itachi and you for that matter, all on my own." Wrath retorted.

"No you can't. You can't beat Itachi, and you sure as hell can't beat me. You're still too confused about what you're fighting for." The Stranger retorted.

"I fight a war for-" Wrath was cut off again, "I'm not talking about who you're fighting for. You've already made that quite clear. No, I'm talking about what you're fighting for; what's your endgame? What do you hope to accomplish by going down this path?"

Wrath was silent. He never thought about what he wanted to happen after he had killed all of his enemies. Realizing that the stranger was on to something and not just wasting his time, Wrath sat down on the rooftop edge as well.

"You have my attention…talk." Wrath said hesitantly.

"My collaborators have no idea I'm here. If they did, they'd surely try to kill the both of us. They fear us and the power we possess. We have the power to change the world for the better. The villains can't do that; they can only attempt to rule the world. The heroes can't do it either, they can only hope to try and save it. But us, we can change it for the better. We can end the corruption, the false idolatry, and the cycle of repeated hatred. We can create a world worth living in. You and I together can do it." The Stranger said.

Wrath took a minute to digest what the Stranger said. He couldn't argue with the logic that was said at all. It made him curious about the person sitting beside him, "That's what your end goal is? To change the world and make it better. How are you going to do that when the world is as cruel as the creatures that live on it?"

"The same way you do; justice…true justice. The world believes that justice is something that is hopeful and inspiring, but you and I both know what true justice is. It's fair. It has no side to take nor is it prejudice against one group of people. You said that you were fighting a war, but why are you fighting it?" The Stranger asked.

"For the lives ruined by so called heroes and despicable villains. The people who had no chance of fighting back and only wished to be treated fairly in life. People like my family who were slaughtered in the dead of a night by a madman who was corrupted by false allegiance to a corrupted village. I want for the Uchiha to finally be free. I want for all people to finally be free." Wrath answered as sincerely as he could.

"I saw you fight back there. You had so much vengeance and anger in your eyes. You will never accomplish your goals as long as that hate exists. Hatred can't destroy hatred; it only makes it stronger in the long run. True justice can never come from it." The Stranger said while turning to face Wrath.

"But then there will be no justice. Not for my family and not for the innocent lives that were ruined," Wrath retorted.

"I've been alive for a long time. I know what happened to the Uchiha. How they were murdered by Itachi Uchiha and Obito Uchiha disguised as Madara. It broke my heart seeing what used to be such a proud clan wiped away by fear and prejudice. To make it worse, Itachi did it under the false pretense that his village would be safe from harm, but immediately after his death, the Akatsuki broke their word and laid waste to his village. They killed countless shinobi and civilians in the name of peace, but in the end it was all for nothing." The Stranger said with a hint of anger.

"So Itachi didn't even accomplish his goal of saving the village; it was destroyed anyways. He didn't even manage to stop another war from happening. He murdered mother and father for nothing," Wrath uttered while getting angry again.

"No, he murdered them for a lie. That's what happens when you put emotion in justice. That's why you must cast out anger and vengeance. Itachi grew angry at the Uchiha clan for their persistence of war. That anger turned to fear when he thought his brother would pay the price because of it and resorted to slaughtering them as a result. You can't let that happen to you too, especially with you being his clone. To achieve your goal, you must be patient enough to step back and keep observing, even when what you see is horrible. I've been waiting and planning for a long time. I've seen many atrocities along the way, but had I acted on it right then and there, all of their deaths and those before them would have been for nothing. When we change the world, we will make their deaths mean something." The Stranger spoke.

"How many people have to die for justice to be achieved? Is it even worth all of the loss? All of the innocent people that died won't even be able to see it in the end." Wrath said sadly.

"You have to make it worth it. You have to do whatever it takes, even if that means killing innocent people. War is a hellish, lonely path. For the longest time, I have been fighting this war alone. But because I waited, now I have the perfect ally in you. You can do the things I never could. You can bring forth true change and walk the path of justice for better or for worse." The Stranger said while standing up.

"But how will I do that if killing all my enemies isn't enough?" Wrath asked.

"It's not about who you kill; it's about how and when you kill them. I give people like Itachi and Danzo credit because they knew that the only good that happens in the world happens because of unethical ways. They knew that killing the Uchiha took correct timing. Doing it in the middle of the day like an execution would only insight conflict. So they waited till night and made look like it was the work of a psychopath to take all of that blame away. You must be unethical to change the world. Killing the Justice League or their villains won't do anything. More heroes and villains will arise like they have throughout all of time. But if you killed the right heroes, and people that those heroes care about; you'd destroy their mask of self-righteousness and arrogance. You'd take away the source of their power…the people. That would draw them all out of hiding and present itself as the best opportunity to strike." The Masked Stranger answered.

"But Itachi would see through that plot and warn them ahead of time." Wrath replied.

"Not if he's among the cattle. Like I said, timing is everything. The way you win this war is by using the so called innocent people." The Masked Stranger said.

"There are innocent people who have nothing to do with my war. I don't want to be killing people who don't need to die." Wrath retorted.

"In order to change the world, people will have to die. Innocent people die in war all of the time. It's the foundation of human civilization. Look at that stadium over there. It was built for playing football and music concerts. A gathering place for people to come together and be happy. But here's what you didn't know; it was built over a graveyard. This graveyard is filled with innocent people that were forced away from their homes and worked to the bone until the day they died as slaves. Instead of a normal funeral, they were put into boxes and left in the dirt to rot. As with everything, they were forgotten in time. But not by me. You see them too, don't you? All of their corpses and tortured souls underneath that grand stadium that was built for joy." The Stranger said.

Wrath used his Sharingan and saw that the stranger was right. Buried deep underneath that stadium were endless corpses. He got angry that they were being defiled like that, "Who could do something like this?"

"The so called innocent people you were hesitating to kill. When I first came to this world, I thought that everyone here was evil and needed to be destroyed. They were all enemies to me; heroes, villains, innocent civilians, and despicable criminals. But then I ate the same food as them, worked the same jobs as them, fell in love like them, and I even opened my home and slept under the same roof as them. I started to see that their not all evil; their just the product of the cruel world they live in. They are perfectly content with the evil of this world as long as it doesn't directly affect them. It's why my goal is to change the world because I believe that if the world changes, so too will the people. Even if that means I have to be the bad guy and kill innocent people despite the turmoil I feel, I know that it will be worth it in the end because we will have a better future." The Stranger passionately said.

"I see; we are the same. Show me how to change the world then." Wrath said as he stood up to walk besides the Masked Stranger. The Stranger smiled underneath the mask, "Very well. Follow me and I will show you exactly how you will deliver true justice."

They then leapt away from the rooftop. They were heading to see the one person who would ignite the flame that will burn away the old, carnal world that they lived in now and ushered in a world of true justice and peace. This world will be created with their own hands and all in the light of day. There would be no more lurking in the shadows while biding for time because after years of patience, the Mask Stranger decided that the time for change was now.

As Wrath traveled, he got more vision of Itachi's past. He would finally see the type of man Itachi really was _, 'Your time is up, murderer! The wrath of the dead has come. Everything that you and the other heroes have built because of your lies will burn, and from the ashes of your world I will do what you never could; build a better one.'_

* * *

 _The reanimated Itachi and his companion, Nagato, were currently walking. Unbeknownst to them, they were on a collision course with Naruto, the whole reason for this war. Itachi soon found himself to face with Naruto and the Eight-Tails jinchuriki. He saw that Naruto had mastered the Nine-Tails' chakra and was impressed by his development in such a short amount of time._

 _Both Itachi and Naruto had questions to ask each other; mainly about Sasuke. Before any of them could get a word out, Itachi used his Fireball Jutsu to attack the jinchuriki pair. Everyone noted that this fireball was much similar to the size they were used to; as opposed to the weak size they saw when Itachi fought his brother._

" _Why are you attacking them? You just said that you had questions." Robin asked._

" _It's because of the jutsu that I was under. The Reanimation Jutsu is a powerful, but perverted technique. It allows the jutsu caster to bring the dead back to life and use them as he saw fit. During this war, he used them to fight alongside Madara and cause emotional turmoil by making shinobi fight fallen comrades." Itachi explained._

" _He's controlling you, I see. How do you break such a jutsu?" Batman asked._

" _By forcing whoever casted it to nullify the jutsu. Other than that, there is not reversing it. The reanimated victims are brought back in their strongest forms. That made fighting this war a whole lot more difficult than it should have been." Itachi answered._

 _The jutsu was stopped when Killer Bee used his sword to cut through the blast. Itachi figured that since Killer Bee had his partner's sword that meant that Kisame must have died in battle. Itachi soon leapt up in the air and was met with Naruto who matched his attack perfectly. Itachi decided that just because he was forced to fight didn't mean that he was forced to be silent either._

" _What happened to Sasuke?" He asked as he made a swipe for Naruto's head. Naruto decided to join in the multitasking, "He says he's going to take revenge on the Leaf Village! He joined the Akatsuki!"_

 _This news shocked Itachi. He had planned for Sasuke to go back home after accomplishing his lifelong goal and was curious to what made him pick this path instead. So while they landed on the ground and exchanged strikes, Itachi asked why Sasuke never returned home._

" _He found out about your top-secret mission, and chose to destroy the village!" Itachi and Naruto were delivering bone crushing strikes that were strong enough to crack the earth beneath them. While fighting, Itachi figured that Madara must have gotten to Sasuke before the Leaf could and told him the truth. They got separated when Bee slammed his sword down and caused Itachi to back flip away._

 _Naruto revealed that he too was told the truth by Madara. Itachi did not like the news of that at all. People knowing the truth about him would only jeopardize the integrity of the Uchiha clan. Naruto was indignant when he found out that Madara was indeed telling the truth about Itachi._

" _Itachi you died playing the villain in order to protect the village and Sasuke! Sasuke surely understands your pain and resolve! But instead of going with you dying will, Sasuke chose to try to destroy the village. This is his way of avenging the pain the village caused his beloved older brother!" Naruto revealed._

" _Wow, that's so sad. It must have really hurt you to hear that," Artemis said. Itachi shook his head, "As much as it hurt knowing what Sasuke was planning to do, it hurt more that I was the one who drove him to do it. All of this turmoil in my brother was my fault."_

" _You couldn't have known what was going to happen after you had died though," Conner said trying to get Itachi not to take all of the blame. Itachi disagreed with him, "I had suspected that Madara knew, but because I wasn't definitely sure of it all I could do was leave a surprise attack should he try to talk to Sasuke. Had I known for sure that Madara knew about me; I would have killed him on the spot."_

 _That sent shivers down their spine and reminded them that their friend, despite his good heart, was still a natural born killer. The reanimated Itachi asked Naruto if the villager knew about him. Naruto replied that only two of his teachers knew and they were keeping this quiet until more proof was found. Itachi thought that was the best possible news and instructed Naruto to never tell the village about this because it would damage the Uchiha Clan's reputation._

 _Out of nowhere, Nagato used his Rinnegan to pull Naruto toward him. Naruto used his chakra cloak to counter it and escape the technique. Itachi had seen all he needed and decided to let Naruto handle his brother. Naruto replied with that being his plan all along which made Itachi smile._

" _I knew entrusting it to you was the right thing to do." Itachi said to himself. Nagato then used the summoning jutsu to summon his multi-headed dog and his drill-beaked bird. Using that as a distraction, Itachi snuck behind Bee for a sneak attack. Itachi warned him ahead of time so that Bee was able to counter his attack with his sword. Itachi backed away and unleashed his Phoenix Flower Jutsu and launched shuriken with the attack. Bee countered and used his tailed beast to grab and confine Itachi._

 _As Bee got overconfident Itachi revealed that he had put him under a genjutsu and warned him not to look in his eyes anymore. Bee's tailed beast acted just in time to allow Bee to block shuriken that were thrown his way. Itachi then started to dodge Bee as he was using his crafty swordsmanship to attack._

 _Itachi leapt onto Nagato's bird and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Naruto first assumed that the attack was for Bee, but all of a sudden he clutched his stomach in pain. To Naruto and everyone who's watching surprise, a crow poked its head out of his mouth and stared right at Itachi. Once it had fully escaped Naruto's mouth, it flew to Itachi._

 _Everyone was wondering why a crow flew out of Naruto's mouth, but M'gann reminded them of when Itachi showed them his talk with Naruto prior to his fight with Sasuke. It was then that he put the crow into Naruto. Everyone had assumed it was just a genjutsu, like Naruto but it really was a contingency plan that was now being put into effect._

 _When they saw his eye start to bleed everyone though it was Itachi using the Amaterasu, but it was really a much more powerful jutsu. Itachi eyed the multi-headed dog Naruto was standing on and set it ablaze with his Amaterasu. He then turned his attention towards Nagato and set him and his bird on fire too. Itachi landed on a tree besides Naruto and told him to relax when he started to panic._

" _Relax, I'm no longer being controlled. I used a new genjutsu against the enemy's jutsu. It is a genjutsu that orders me to protect the Leaf Village. It erased the hold of the Reanimation Jutsu. I prepared that crow to specifically respond to my Mangekyo Sharingan. It was intended as a counter should one of two certain thing were to happen. One of those scenarios was me being reanimated and used as a tool against the Leaf." Itachi explained._

" _You planned this far ahead?! That's next level paranoid." Flash commented._

" _You call it paranoia, I call it being prepared. My father used to always say that you never have to get ready if you always stay ready." Itachi replied._

" _I thought there was no way to break the hold over the jutsu. How did you pull it off?" Batman asked. He was impressed with Itachi's planning skills. He'd never heard of plan that was designed to take affect after the designer dies and have it work so well. Itachi pointed towards the crow, "People assume that my Tsukuyomi is the most powerful genjutsu in existence. They're wrong. That title belongs to the genjutsu of Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan, the Koto Amatsukami. That jutsu is so powerful that it transcends death itself. It makes his eyes the most valuable eyes one could ever possess."_

" _Shisui Uchiha? Wasn't he your best friend?" Black Canary asked._

" _Yes, it was for this very jutsu that Danzo stole his eye from him." Itachi answered._

" _What does that jutsu do?" Hal Jordan asked. Itachi turned and looked at him, "It allows you to control someone without them ever realizing it. I programmed the genjutsu, the order to protect the Leaf, into Shisui's eye. Then I put it into the crow's left eye, and chose to give it to Naruto. Though, I never had planned on using it on myself in the future."_

" _Why did you choose to give it to Naruto?" Wonder Woman asked._

" _Self-sacrifice…it is the mark of a true shinobi who doesn't seek glory. They protect from the shadows. Shisui taught me that. Shisui predicted that a battle would ensue for his eyes. He faked his own death and made it seem like his eyes were destroyed. I helped him by becoming the main target suspicion in the village. You all saw how Danzo stole his right eye. To prevent something like that from happening again, he bequeathed his remaining left eye to me and instructed me to use it to protect the village. I gave it to Naruto because he share's Shisui's feelings. Since Naruto considered Sasuke to be like a brother, it was only right that he be the one who stopped and saved him. Should Sasuke ever become a threat to the village after my death and transplant my eyes for is thirst for power and quest to unlock the Eternal Mangekyo, the crow would emerge from Naruto. In response to him coming into contact with my transplanted eyes, the Koto Amatsukami would be casted onto Sasuke and force him to protect the Leaf instead. That was my contingency plan." Itachi answered._

 _Everyone had their minds blown by how far after his death he had planned. Batman was curious about two things though, "Why were you so sure that your brother would turn against your village, and why didn't you just use Shisui's genjutsu on him yourself during your fight with him?"_

" _I didn't know what Sasuke would do. It was just a safety precaution should the worst were to happen. And as for your second question the answer is simple, I couldn't." Itachi answered._

" _Why not?" Batman asked._

" _Shisui's Mangekyo would have taken decades to recharge. They only ways to use it more frequently were to have the First Hokage's cells or to be Shisui himself. I had to focus on Sasuke regardless and how my death might affect him. I obviously was off by a lot." Itachi further explained._

 _Naruto thanked Itachi for trusting in him that much and assured him that he would stop Sasuke and save the village without killing him. Itachi smiled at Naruto for this, "My little brother is lucky to have a friend like you."_

 _Naruto turned and saw that Nagato had recovered from Itachi's attack. Nagato then proceeded to absorbing both Bee's and Naruto's chakra in order to get stronger. Naruto was currently trapped by Nagato as he was using all aspects of his Rinnegan. Nagato also was without his free conscious and was completely under the control of the Reanimation Jutsu. When Bee tried to intervene, he too was captured by Nagato and his Rinnegan powers. It took Itachi and his Susanoo to create some distance and save them. He had also managed to cut away one of Nagato's arms._

 _Once Nagato had recovered his arm, he unleashed his Planetary Devastation Jutsu. A black gravitational orb floated to the sky and pulled in every bit of earth that was beneath it. Naruto started panicking and going on about how unbeatable the jutsu was as they were all pulled into the orb. Itachi talked him down and came up with a plan._

" _Hey Naruto, if this jutsu is such a sure death, how come you're still alive after being hit with it once before?" He asked. Naruto explained that he only got out of it because the Nine-Tails went on a rampage. Itachi scolded him for losing his cool, "Analysis requires being calm, Naruto. It's safe to assume that the mass that Nagato threw earlier is the central core of gravity. We need to destroy it. We'll attack the center simultaneously. Each of us will use our most powerful long-distance ninjutsu!"_

" _But how will we be able to properly aim with all of this debris knocking us off balance?" Naruto said as he struggled to stay on his piece of earth. Itachi calculated for that as well, "Our jutsu will make contact even if we don't aim correctly. This tactic takes advantage of the core's powerful gravitational pull. It'll suck our jutsu's in like everything else. Remember Naruto, every jutsu has a weakness!"_

 _The then each unleashed their most powerful attacks. With the power of the Tailed Best Bomb, the Wind Style, Rasen Shuriken, and the Yasaka Magatama; they were able to destroy Nagato's jutsu. The result was a huge explosion that destroyed the battlefield. Itachi used the explosion to sneak behind Nagato and stab him with his Totsuka Blade. Itachi didn't want to, but it was their only means to sealing him. He just regretted that his former comrade would have to suffer an eternity of suffering because of it._

 _Everyone praised Itachi for his quick thinking and calm mind, "Not too many people would have been calm enough to formulate a plan out of that. Nice job, kid." Hal Jordan said._

" _Dang, there wasn't much that you couldn't do back in your world, huh?" Wally pondered._

" _No, there was a lot that I couldn't do. My asking Naruto to save my brother is proof of that." Itachi replied as Nagato faded away while giving Naruto words of encouragement._

 _Itachi turned to start to head out, "I will put an end to the Reanimation Jutsu. I leave Madara to you two."_

 _Naruto didn't agree and tried to persist on doing everything himself. Itachi decided to give him some words of wisdom based upon his life failures, "Stop trying to do everything yourself. I have the best chance to stop the Reanimation Jutsu. I even have an idea on how to do it."_

 _Naruto ignored him and kept going on about this war being his responsibility. Itachi decided to remind Naruto of hat was truly important._

" _I admit that you are stronger than before. You have much more power, but that seems to have made you lose sight of something extremely important. Naruto, you must remember why the people of the Leaf Village stopped hating and fearing you. The reason they accepted you as one of their own is because you showed them that you understood them and you fought for their acceptance. You just acknowledged that everyone who cared about you helped get you to where you are now. If you forget about everyone else because you now have power, you'll become arrogant and egotistical. And eventually you will become just like Madara. No matter how powerful you are, you must not take it all on your own because if you do you will surely fail. Your father, Minato, was able to fulfill his duties as Hokage because your mother, Kushina, and his comrades were at his side. You share your father's dream, don't you? Then never forget that becoming Hokage isn't about getting people to acknowledge you, it is only those that are already acknowledged that will ever become Hokage. Never forget you friends." Itachi spoke._

 _Superman smiled at Itachi's wisdom. It was for that very reason that the Justice League was formed. Even he knew that despite all for his powers, he couldn't save the world alone. It is only with the help of friends and other heroes that the world could truly be safe. Even Batman knew deep down that he needs other people._

 _Itachi watched as Naruto finally mulled over his words and admit that he was wrong. Itachi was glad to hear that. He then turned and used his Amaterasu to incinerate the crow holding Shisui's eye._

" _Shisui's eye won't work for another decade so you won't be able to use it against Sasuke. However, you possess something that is even more powerful than Shisui's eye. You have his same soul and that is what Shisui truly wanted to pass on. You don't need Shisui's eye anymore. The way you are now is good enough to stop Sasuke." Itachi said._

" _But you're here now! You can just talk to Sasuke and-" Itachi cut him off as the crow turned to ash, "No, I tried to do everything myself too. I failed in the end. So this time I will leave that task for a comrade to handle."_

 _Itachi then leapt away to put an end to the Reanimation Jutsu and change the tides of the war._

" _This is it. This will be my last chapter of this world." Itachi said as the scene changed again. Conner didn't understand what he meant, but M'gann explained, "Once he stops the Reanimation Jutsu, Itachi will go back to the afterlife. We're about to see what his last moments on this Earth were."_

" _This is just so crazy and complicated to me. I never thought one guy could experience so much in such a short life." Flash spoke._

" _But how do you get from there to here in our world then?" Robin asked. Itachi shook his head, "You will see how I do, but I even still don't know why it was done or why I was chosen. All I do know is that as long as my home and loved ones are in danger I will be there to protect them all."_

 _The scene changed to something that caused everyone watching to pause. Itachi was travelling through the forest when he crossed paths with none other than Sasuke. It wasn't planned nor wanted by Itachi, but this meeting would provide him with the chance of finally redeeming himself to his brother._

* * *

(Part 3 of the truth done.) Whew! That took a lot longer than I had expected. Oh yeah I almost forgot, I'm back! It's been too long. With boot camp and "A" School, I was always swamped for time. But that's all done now! I've missed you guys so much! Thanks for all of the support you all gave me and now that I am a U.S. Sailor, I know that more love is to come. Wrath is on a mission to make change and I can't wait to show you all how he plans on doing it. It won't take me three months this time, I promise. Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews while I was gone. Let's keep it up and get this ball rolling again! Don't forget to send me a review or a PM to let me know what you think of these last few chapters! Until next time guys and gals!


	24. Wrath

_Sasuke was just as shocked as everyone watching when he saw his brother. Itachi just kept moving despite his brother's desperate call to him._

" _Wait! Is that you, Itachi? I told you to wait!" Sasuke got impatient with Itachi ignoring him and used his Susanoo to make a grab for his brother. Itachi countered Sasuke by using his own Susanoo to block the attempt. It had confirmed to Sasuke that he truly was his brother._

" _I'm impressed. I didn't know that you had been able to master the Susanoo as well." Itachi complimented._

" _But what are you even doing here? You're dead!" Sasuke shouted with confusion and anger. Itachi gave a quick run through to his brother, "Kabuto's jutsu has caused me to become a reanimated shinobi. I have no time to talk right now. I have something important to do."_

 _Sasuke did not like how his brother tried to brush him off at all, "So what! I don't care! You're here in front of me right now and I have questions for you!"_

" _Ask me later. Though you probably won't listen," Itachi replied coldly to his brother. Sasuke grew angrier and angrier the more he was being ignored by his brother, "You're the one who told me to come find you once I had the same eyes as you! But now you want to run away from me! Are you running out of guilt for being a liar?! You don't have the courage to tell me the truth. I already know everything about you anyways. That's why I'm going to destroy the Leaf!"_

" _I told you before when we fought against each other that we each live inside our own fantasies. I asked you to think about it that way and about how one's reality might be an illusion. However, my truth is real." Itachi said calmly._

" _I no longer live inside of an illusion and I can see through your genjutsu! These eyes…are your eyes!" Sasuke said with so much pain in his voice._

 _Internally, Itachi saddened by how hurt and angry his brother was. Hearing about the change was one thing, but seeing it personally was something completely different. And deep down he knew this was his fault._

" _I can tell that part of you is still the same, but I've heard from others what's happened to you. I know how much you've changed." Itachi started. Sasuke cut him off by declaring how wrong his brother was, "You're wrong! You're the one who change my world long ago. I was supposed to die too. You were also supposed to kill me along with our parents, but no…explain it. Why me?! Why was I the only one you spared?! Why me? What's so different about me than our father and mother?! Why only me?!"_

 _Everyone watching grew sad of the sight of how hurt and confused Sasuke was. Itachi may have had a hard life, but they knew that it was Sasuke that was paying the price for it. It truly was a tragic story all around. It even made Superman start to internally reevaluate how he was treating Conner after seeing Sasuke like this. He had no desire to repeat Itachi's mistake._

" _Because you didn't know anything and had no part in the Uchiha Clan's folly. You were just a child. And do you think I did it just for you? I wanted you grow up and judge me. I deserve to be dealt with only by another Uchiha. And so I helped foster and take advantage of the hate in your heart. That is why I failed in the end. Ultimately, I only filled you with hatred and made you go rogue. I turned you, my precious little brother, into a criminal. All I ever wanted was for you to walk the right path. Back before I died I…I tried to lead you down the path to righteousness. Down a path without any forks or turns. I even resorted to changing the signposts on it…with lies and my visual prowess." Itachi admitted sadly._

" _Wow dude, that's…that's heavy guilt to be carrying all on your own." Wally said. Everyone got to see how hard Itachi was on himself. Artemis really got a close view of what was inside of Itachi's heart, 'I think I finally understand why he considers himself such a failure, though I still disagree with him. All he wanted was for Sasuke to live a happy life and redeem the Uchiha. Even though it didn't go the way he had planned, it doesn't make Itachi a failure. It makes him human.' She thought to herself while looking at her friend and the painful scene below them._

" _And what, I was supposed to happily walk that one path while being ignorant of everything?! I couldn't…I never could have walked that path!" Sasuke proclaimed._

" _Yes, you're completely right. You should be the only one to decide your journey in life. Neither I nor anyone else have that right over you." Itachi admitted._

" _No matter how you try to obscure the signposts, my eyes can strip away all of you lies!" Sasuke declared._

 _Itachi smiled to himself and told his brother that the signpost weren't the only guides in his life while referring to Naruto and his friends, "Properly speaking, I'm dead now. There's no point in us talking any further."_

 _Itachi then sped away, but Sasuke pressed on. He wouldn't let his brother brush him off again, "When you were alive you never paid any attention to me. You'd always flick my forehead while saying "forgive me" and running off! And even now that you're dead, you're still running away!"_

" _I'm not running away. There's something important that I must do. I must stop the Reanimation Jutsu." Itachi then summoned a flock of crows to distract Sasuke while he went on to complete his task._

 _He found the cave that the caster was hiding in and used his Susanoo to easily smash through the barrier that was protecting it. Through the rubble stood Kabuto, the person responsible for all of the dead shinobi being brought back to life. Kabuto expressed how impressed he was that Itachi found him so easily. Itachi explained that when he was under Kabuto's control he was able to pinpoint where Kabuto's chakra was coming from._

" _It's one of the weaknesses of the Reanimation Jutsu. Though you won't need to remember that for next time" Itachi said stoically._

" _Thanks for the tip. I didn't expect any shinobi to be able to counter this jutsu, so I didn't even worry about it. By the way, there's something I'd like you to know as well. This Reanimation Jutsu won't be undone even if you manage to kill me. I am the only one who can stop it. In other words, you can't kill me. If I die, you'll never be able to stop this jutsu. I guess my luck hasn't run out yet!" Kabuto shouted as he started laughing out loud._

" _Things aren't always as the way we want them to be…" Itachi said as he sensed his brother behind him. Sasuke was still as persistent as when they were younger. Sasuke sensed the presence of Orochimaru and instantly got on the defensive. Much to his dismay, the hooded assailant turned out to be Kabuto, another student of Orochimaru's._

 _Kabuto reveled in his fortune for having Sasuke show up right now since he was the agreed upon compensation for Kabuto participating in the war. Itachi didn't know or care what he meant by that, he just wanted to end this Reanimation Jutsu fast._

" _This jutsu has no flaws. I want you to understand that Itachi. Even if you made a move, I doubt Sasuke would just sit back and watch. Even if there was a way to defeating me, rushing would surely cause you to fail." Kabuto arrogantly said._

 _He then told Sasuke how he and Tobi were waging war with the other Shinobi nations. They were using the White Zetsu and the reanimated army to fight for them. The goal was to collect the nine and eight tails so that they could be used to cast a powerful genjutsu over the entire world. That way, they'd control everything and everyone._

 _Sasuke asked his brother why he was here if he was a reanimation created to fight in the way. Itachi responded by telling his brother that he broke Kabuto's control over him._

" _To keep it simple, I hate taking orders" Itachi said to Kabuto. Kabuto smirked at that, "That's not how I heard it. But for the purposes of this fight, we'll go along with that statement."_

" _Kabuto, I came to kill you. Reanimation…you got your hands on a silly Forbidden Jutsu." Itachi scolded._

" _It's because of this jutsu that you brother were reunited again. I honestly expected a little more gratitude." Kabuto slickly responded._

" _Reanimation can't control the heart. You've desecrated souls that were purified and at rest. You use them to spread nothing but unnecessary sadness and hate. Can't you understand the pain felt by the dead who are forced to fight comrades and loved ones? The pain of the living is even greater. After finally getting over the grief and sadness your jutsu comes around and reopens those wounds all over again!" Itachi said with a hint of anger in his voice._

" _Wow, I'm surprised someone who slaughtered their entire clan at the dead of the night could have such a tender heart. Does that mean that you regret doing it then? If so, then I'm not interested." Kabuto said dismissively._

" _That guy, he's competing with that Danzo guy for my least favorite person award. What a jerk." Robin lamented._

" _To use people and their feelings like it was so insignificant to him is disgusting, "Wonder Woman added._

" _Sasuke, you want to bring down Itachi, the bane of the Uchiha once again, right? He is a nuisance to both you and me. Why don't we team up and take Itachi down together? We share the same power of the snake and the same master-" Kabuto started but was cut off by a defiant Sasuke._

" _I have no intentions of calling that monster my master! Besides, it seems like you don't know anything, do you? I chased Itachi all the way here to talk to him, not fight him." Sasuke announced._

 _Kabuto asked what side Sasuke was on and got an answer by Sasuke throwing shuriken at him. Itachi deflected the shuriken, though, before they could reach Kabuto._

" _Why? He's just like Orochimaru, which means he's my enemy. And right now, he's your enemy too, right?!" Sasuke asked. Itachi gave up and decided that he would wind up talking to his brother after all, "Alright, we'll talk later. But first, we must take him down…without killing him. If you kill the caster of the Reanimation, the jutsu can never be undone. We'll put him under my Tsukuyomi, and then we'll make him tell us how to stop it. And while he's still under the Tsukuyomi, I'll control him and break this jutsu." Itachi declared._

" _Thanks for the play-by-play. I hope it goes as smoothly as you say. But as I told you earlier, this jutsu has no flaw-" Itachi cut him off. He was tired of Kabuto's foolishness, "Every jutsu has a flaw. This jutsu's flaw…is me!"_

" _Itachi, you've kept lying to me, telling me "next time" or "later", and then you died on me. So this time I will hold you to your promise." Sasuke said as he walked beside his brother in a reunion of the Uchiha._

" _They say you take your secrets and promises to the grave. Well, I've already died once. I intend on honoring this last promise." Itachi said to assure his brother that he would finally talk after this battle._

 _Kabuto got ready for battle by releasing some snakes fro out of his hood and covering his eyes to avoid genjutsu. The snakes got larger before lunging to attack. The brothers leapt backwards to avoid and used their Susanoo to behead the snakes. Itachi had to warn his brother about being too violent because killing Kabuto would result in failure. Sasuke assured him that Kabuto wouldn't die easily and went to grab his hood to put him under a genjutsu. When he reached Kabuto, he discovered that it was just snakes under the hood._

 _Sasuke threw his sword at one of the snakes, but it slithered away despite being cut. Sasuke then started to taunt Kabuto for being a coward. Kabuto responded by explaining all of the preparation and studying he's done in order to get to this point. He modified his body and went to Ryuchi Cave. Kabuto started to reveal his true self as he emerged from one of his snakes' mouths. Sasuke wasted no time in using his Susanoo to try and shoot Kabuto down before he emerged, but much to his surprise Kabuto actually doge his arrow. Kabuto revealed that he could use Nature Energy._

' _I see…so he's learned how to use Sage mode.' Itachi thought. Sasuke laughed and called Kabuto a cheap knock off of Orochimaru. Kabuto replied that he's evolved past a snake and had finally become a dragon. He used a powerful jutsu to block the senses of the brothers._

 _They could only writhe in pain as Kabuto slithered through because of his snake genetics. Kabuto took advantage of their temporary paralysis and tried to kill Sasuke. Itachi sensed that he would do that and used his Susanoo to protect his brother from harm._

 _He figured that since Sasuke was Kabuto's main goal in participating in this war that he'd likely go after him first. It was his best chance since neither of the Uchiha brothers knew how to undo the Reanimation Jutsu just yet._

" _What sets you apart from the rest of the Uchiha Clan is that you have true visual prowess. You have the ability to peer into and read people's souls. And use what you learn in battle. That's why you were so good at deceiving people. You died telling a lie…all you are is a dirty, lying shinobi through and through!" Kabuto taunted._

 _Sasuke and Itachi's friends showed more emotion on Kabuto's claim than Itachi did. Sasuke used his Chidori to try and cut Kabuto in half and his friends looked like they wanted to help Sasuke do it. Kabuto dodged by jumping to the ceiling and continued to taunt._

" _You think a makeshift team of you two can outwit my perception skills? You don't even know each other because Itachi lied so much throughout his life," Kabuto pointed out._

" _Sasuke, do you remember the time you tagged along with me on my mission when we were kids? The wild boar?" Itachi inquired._

 _Sasuke nodded and powered up his Susanoo again. They both had their Susanoo in their humanoid forms. Itachi ran ahead as Sasuke stayed for long-ranged backup. He had arrows primed and ready for fire. Itachi used his Yasaka Magatama and shot it at Kabuto. The spread out attack neutralized his speed since he couldn't move anywhere. It allowed Sasuke to hit him with an arrow since Kabuto was a stationary target now._

 _The arrow lodged itself into Kabuto's snake tail. Kabuto acted fast and went to grab Sasuke's sword that was lodged into a pillar earlier. He was going to use it to cut off his own tail to escape. Itachi sped ahead to try and beat Kabuto to the blade. Kabuto got a hold of it and stabbed right through Itachi once he got close._

 _Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan started to rotate and then he disappeared into a burst of light and crows. The crows temporarily distorted Kabuto's senses just enough for Itachi to rematerialize, grab Sasuke's sword, and use it to cut off the tip of one of Kabuto's horns. It was a masterful turn around and counterattack that provided yet another example to Itachi's friend of just how good he was at being a shinobi as they watched in awe._

 _They both landed on the ground after the exchange, one completely unaware of just what really transpired. Kabuto made an offhanded comment about forgetting that he had horns now, but Itachi made sure that he wouldn't forget after this fight._

" _It looks like you might be able to take down that wild boar now." Itachi said jokingly to Sasuke after seeing his fast improvement with a bow and arrow. Sasuke smiled at being acknowledged by his brother and then turned towards the present fight, "Instead of that giant wild boar, we'll take down this snake."_

" _Yeah…" Itachi said as the brothers were on one accord with each other. The scene touched M'gann, "Even despite everything you two went through…you still find the time to be brothers who love each other. Not too many can say that."_

" _I wish I could say that…" Artemis mumbled to herself sadly. Itachi patted her on the shoulder and smiled at her, "You will one day. I know it."_

" _Okay, Mr. Optimistic. I'll hold you to that." She replied._

" _It's really funny. You two actually look like you love each other. But what happened to the brothers who fought and hated each other? It's not hard to guess that something happened between you two back when you killed him. But what could you possibly want to ask of a dead man?" Kabuto asked._

" _The truth," Sasuke answered frankly. Kabuto grinned at that, "Oh really? By the sounds of it, you really don't trust Itachi after all. Sasuke, did you ever consider that you already know the truth about Itachi? It's no wonder that you didn't return to the Leaf after killing him. It's why you joined the Akatsuki and plotted the Leaf's destruction! You want to destroy the village that caused your brother so much pain. You don't even deny it. So you followed your brother, who you happened to encounter, all the way here to find out the truth once and for all. Everything in complete detail from the time it happened to how it happened. I'm sorry to tell you this, but your brother is a liar! Itachi was willing to kill his own family to protect the village. The very same village you aim to destroy. That doesn't mix well. I'm the one who wants what you want, Sasuke! Since Lord Orochimaru couldn't destroy the Leaf, the tasked has been left for me to do. All you have to do is stab Itachi in the back like how he did you and your clan. Do that and join me. You don't have to feel guilty about it at all. He's already dead; you made sure of that. This is nothing but an imitation." Kabuto said while trying to lure Sasuke to his side._

" _Jeez, is this the throne scene to Return of the Jedi? He's laying it on thick." Wally commented._

" _It's because he's getting desperate." Itachi answered. Robin got curious why that was and asked Itachi, "Why? I thought his jutsu had no flaws so he should have been calm."_

" _Not about this fight. Something else was making him desperate." Itachi answered._

" _What was that?" Conner asked. Itachi sighed, "The same thing that makes us all desperate in a way. The need to feel like there's someone else like us in the world. The need to not feel alone anymore."_

 _Sasuke rebuked Kabuto's claims about them being alike and stated that his reasons for wanting to destroy the Leaf were his and his alone._

" _I understand why Itachi chose that life. I was just like him. It was nice being found by a Leaf Shinobi, but since my origins were a mystery I was raised to be a spy. I learned medical ninjutsu so that people could trust me more. I went from village to village being a spy. Pretending to be someone else and living a life of lies. There was no place for the real me…no one knew the real me. I had done it for so long that even I didn't know the real me anymore, and that's when the Leaf Village stopped trusting me. They ran me out of the village. Itachi and I worked for the good of the Leaf Village, but in return, all we got was dishonor and disgrace! What has the Leaf Village ever done for any of us? How Itachi lived caused you to be how you are now. And I am similar to you too because of the Leaf, Sasuke. No one understands you better than me. I will be your new big brother and stand by your side." Kabuto promised._

" _Don't listen to him, Sasuke. He as an even better spy then I was, which means he's also a better liar than me too. No matter what darkness or contradictions lay within the village, I will always be Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf! Sasuke…it's my fault you're like this right now. I know I have no right to advise you in any way, but please hear me out because I have something to tell you. But first, let's stop him together." Itachi said trying to get to his brother before Kabuto did._

" _You can't kill me as long as I am the caster of the Reanimation Jutsu. I can instantly recover from any injuries so it would all be meaningless. I shut down my eyesight so your genjutsu is useless against me. You brothers can't beat me! Because I casted it, the Reanimation Jutsu is invincible!" Kabuto gloated._

" _Though I hate hearing his voice, he did explain the situation perfectly." Itachi lamented._

" _I don't need you to tell me that. We need to find a way to beat him." Sasuke responded._

" _He doesn't know the true power of the Uchiha. The Uchiha have a visual jutsu that can be used on an opponent without eyesight. The price for using it is losing the light in one's eye forever." Itachi revealed._

" _The Izanagi?" Sasuke asked. Itachi was shocked his brother knew about that technique since it was forbidden, "Danzo used it when I fought him."_

 _Itachi revealed that he had no intentions of using the Izanagi, "There's another forbidden jutsu that is considered the Izanagi's other half. I've already laid the grounds for it. An ultimate jutsu that will hold Kabuto's fate within its grasp. The Izanami!" Itachi said as he blocked a charge from Kabuto with Sasuke's sword._

 _The two backed off of their deadlock and returned into their neutral positions, "The Izanagi is a jutsu that changes one's fate, while the Izanami is a jutsu that decides it. Sasuke, don't leave my side."_

" _I don't know what you're up to, but it won't work. It seems you still don't understand just who I am! Sage Art: Inorganic Animation!" Kabuto used his jutsu to control the cave they were all in and use it to attack the brothers. He was able to impale Itachi with multiple rock spikes because Itachi had used his Susanoo to protect Sasuke. It slowed his movement just enough for Kabuto to get him._

 _Kabuto ran forward to try and regain control of Itachi, but was stopped by Sasuke's circle of Amaterasu. The heat from the flames also caused the cave to revert back to normal and release Itachi. Kabuto then went on about how superior he was and that he was like the Sage of Six Paths. Itachi had noticed a pattern in him and addressed him._

" _Kabuto, when I look at you it's like I'm seeing the old me. That is why you will lose." Itachi warned._

" _I'm not on the sidelines anymore. I am the central figure of this war. I've manipulated everyone into doing what I want. So much so that now I have both of the Uchiha brothers backed into a corner. I'm not losing anything!" Kabuto replied._

" _I don't like you, but I do understand you. We were both spies who lived false lives in this world. I had forgotten who I was at one point too. But now I finally understand that knowing yourself doesn't mean achieving everything and being perfect; it is knowing what you can and can't do." Itachi spoke._

" _Sounds like the words of a loser! Acknowledging what you can't do is the same as giving up." Kabuto replied._

" _No, it's being able to forgive yourself for the things you can't do by yourself. You can't do everything alone. That's why you have comrades who can help you. It also makes sure that you don't miss the things that you actually can accomplish. If you want to know who you are, you have to look at your true self and acknowledge what you see. I failed to do that. I lied to everyone…including myself. Those who can't accept who they really are will always fail…just like I did." Itachi wisely spoke._

 _Kabuto started laughing before acknowledging that out of all of the pawns and shinobi that he reanimated for the war, Itachi was by far the greatest one. He even had begun to praise the Uchiha name and voiced his desire to be one. Itachi responded that his last name only identified what his bloodline was and which clan he belonged to, so it was meaningless to a guy like Kabuto to claim it._

 _Kabuto's mood shifted to anger. He refuted Itachi and claimed that having a last name did mean something since all his life all he wanted was a name that told people where he belonged in the world. Sasuke asked Itachi again if they could kill Kabuto, but Itachi again said no because the field was in his advantage and they still needed him alive to undo the Reanimation Jutsu._

" _I've already put him under the genjutsu; it's just taking some time to take effect." Itachi said to the surprise of everyone._

" _When did you put him under the genjutsu? Why isn't it working by now?" Aqualad asked._

" _From the first series. A jutsu that alters reality takes time to use." Itachi answered as Kabuto started using the chakra and jutsu of all of Orochimaru's former pawns. He das that Orochimaru once told him that in order to know one's self, you must gather every single thing and piece of information that exists in the world._

 _They had to work together and use their Susanoo to defend all of the jutsu Kabuto was using. He even put them under a genjutsu using sounds waves like how a former pawn of Orochimaru used to do. They were immobilized. Kabuto planned on using Orochimaru's jutsu to absorb Sasuke into his body. He had completely deluded himself into thinking that he was Orochimaru._

" _Kabuto, you are not Orochimaru. It's fine to imitate someone you respect, but never to the extent when to attempt to remake yourself into him." Itachi said finally understanding the turmoil inside of Kabuto._

" _Everyone starts off by mimicking someone. Look at how Sasuke mimicked you." Kabuto retorted. Itachi ignored his jab and replied, "Imitating someone you respect is something you do to grow, but you can't use it as a disguise to pretend to be someone you clearly aren't. You gain nothing from attacking your self-value. Especially when it's just for something external that's admirable and praiseworthy to you. I'll say this one last time. Stop fooling yourself with lies. Those who can't acknowledge their real selves are bound to fail." Itachi warned._

" _Fail? I could never fail the way I am now!" Kabuto replied as he launched an attack. Itachi told Sasuke to look into his eyes so that they could use genjutsu of their own to break the genjutsu Kabuto had them under. They then used their Susanoo to trample though Kabuto's attack._

" _I'm going to engage the Izanami. You have failed, Kabuto." Itachi announced. Kabuto suddenly fell to the ground. Sasuke assumed that it was Itachi's doing. That was until Kabuto sprouted from the snakehead of Orochimaru behind them and bisected Itachi._

" _A genius who had everything could never understand that I just want to be who and what I am! I won't let anyone stop me." Kabuto said as Itachi fell to the ground._

 _Sasuke moved fast and threw his sword at Kabuto who in turn used his snake-tail to catch it. Sasuke then used his Susanoo to make Kabuto retreat to the ceiling before shooting fireballs at him. Kabuto countered with a wave of water that cancelled the fire out and washed Sasuke away. Mist filled the cave because of Kabuto and Sasuke's clash, which allowed Itachi time to recover and sneak up on the former. Kabuto sensed it and stabbed right through Itachi. Itachi's left eye went colorless while Itachi turned into a flock of crows. The crows knocked Sasuke's sword out of Kabuto's hand and into Itachi's as he rematerialized and cut off Kabuto's horn again._

" _Wow, you used the same moves as before…and got the same result. What gives?" Wally asked._

" _I don't see what type of strategy your employing either Itachi." Canary added._

" _Just watch. It's already over." Itachi replied as everyone one the battlefield had reset into their original positions with Sasuke joining Itachi and Kabuto off a whiles away._

" _I already told you that as long as I have my power of recovery, wounding me is meaningless. And since I shut off my vision, genjutsu won't work on me either. You have no chance of winning." Kabuto proclaimed._

" _Your fate is already in my hands. Thanks to the Uchiha's other forbidden jutsu…the Izanami." Itachi replied calmly. Kabuto decided to put that theory to the test by attacking again. He lunged at Itachi, who in turn used Sasuke's blade to defend and push Kabuto back as Sasuke joined his side._

 _Kabuto noted how it felt like déjà vu to him and decided that he wanted to end this fight now. Itachi had other plans, "Your fate may be in my hands now, but you're the only one who can truly decide your destiny. Remember what I've told you and think hard." Itachi advised._

 _Kabuto had had enough of Itachi's words and begun his assault. Itachi got ready to defend just like before, "Those who forgive themselves and are able to accept who they really are, they are the most powerful of all."_

 _After that a series of events happened. Kabuto got in possession of Sasuke's sword, used it to stab Itachi, lost it to Itachi when he turned into a flock of crows, and had his horn cut off before backing away. It was too similar to what had happened twice before and let him know that he was in a genjutsu somehow._

 _The series of events repeated themselves again as Kabuto got in possession of Sasuke's sword, used it to stab Itachi, lost it to Itachi when he turned into a flock of crows, and had his horn cut off before backing away. No matter what Kabuto did, he would always repeat that series of events. Itachi truly had Kabuto's fate in his hands._

 _As Kabuto tried to figure a way out, Itachi warned him that it was worthless. Itachi then advised him to recall his advice from earlier, but was brushed aside. To Kabuto's misfortune, he was trapped in this loop of events. In reality, Sasuke and Itachi stood calmly as Kabuto was in a genjutsu induced trance._

" _It makes it easier to cast my genjutsu on him when he's trapped in the loop I made." Itachi noted._

" _So wait, that's what you did to him? I'm so confused." Artemis said as most of the others agreed. Batman had a different question, "When did you cast it?"_

" _The first time Kabuto stabbed me with my brother's blade." Itachi answered. Batman got curious, "You mentioned that you had a visual jutsu that could work without sight, but from what I gather, sight is the requirement for your Sharingan to be at its most effective. So how did you do it?"_

" _Izanami is a visual jutsu that works with the physical senses of both yourself and the opponent." Itachi explained._

" _How is that possible to do?" Canary asked._

" _As I was battling my opponent, I took a photograph of the physical senses that both myself and my opponent are feeling during that instant with the visual jutsu. We'll call that A. As time progressed, I found another moment in time to record; B. Then I recorded C and so on with Sharingan. Next is to recreate those exact same physical sensations. When I finally recreated an exact copy of A, I created A'. By overlaying and connecting A to A', the Izanami does the rest and will like a path for B' and C' to create fluctuations within a fixed time. In other words, it's the power to trap your opponent in an infinite loop. Just like with the Izanagi, it costs the caster their vision in the eye that used the jutsu."_

" _So what you're saying is that Kabuto guy is trapped inside of the time loop while fighting phantom versions of you and your brother forever? " Flash asked._

" _No, there is a way out of the jutsu. The Izanami was created to rebuke and save uses of the Izanagi." Itachi explained._

" _What the heck is the Izanagi? I heard you mention it before to Sasuke. Is it some type of genjutsu?" Conner asked._

" _The Izanagi is the Uchiha's prized jutsu that allows the caster to literally change destiny in the real world. If something doesn't go the way you want it to, it allows you to erase the outcome and start all over. It allows you to select the most desirable end result." He elaborated._

" _So if you or a loved one died, you'd be able to change that with your jutsu?" Robin asked._

" _Yes, anything is subject to change within a reasonable timeframe when using the Izanagi. Though, I wouldn't recommend doing it. Messing with destiny can have tricky side effects and is why Izanami was created." Itachi answered._

 _Itachi went on to explain the painful history of the Uchiha and how they used to abuse the Izanagi for personal convenience and to rebuke that, the Uchiha came up with the Izanami. It also was designed to save the Izanagi user by trapping them in an infinite loop. The only way out of the loop is for the person trapped inside to finally accept the original outcome and stop trying to change it. It forces people inside to accept their fate, no matter how bad or tragic it may be. The very fact that it has such an easy escape route out of it makes it dangerous to use in combat. It is why the Izanami is forbidden._

" _How would Kabuto be able to escape then?" Kaldur asked._

" _All he has to do is stop trying to transform himself and accept who he really is. After that the loop would stop." Itachi answered._

 _Sasuke had begun to understand why the two visual jutsu were forbidden and how much damage they did to the Uchiha clan. He also understood that it was important to learn from the past to accept one's fate and move forward anyways. What he didn't understand, though, was why Itachi used such a jutsu on someone like Kabuto._

" _He reminds me of the old me. He thinks by getting everything, he'll accomplish whatever he wants to. He even makes himself believe that he can't fail even if that means lying to himself. I stopped listening to what anyone else said and I stopped letting myself trust anybody. In his case, Kabuto is so deluded that he thinks all of these powers are his and his alone. I understand him too well. Both of us were used by the shinobi world. He can't forgive himself or accept himself for who he really is. It's clear that what he's doing is wrong, but he's not completely to blame for not having realized that. My chance has passed me by, but he can still forgive himself. Itachi explained._

" _But why big brother? Why would you feel you needed to help him do that? He is not like you. No, you were perfect-" Sasuke started._

 _Itachi stopped him, "Sasuke, you know…I was going to control you. I planned on using the visual jutsu, Koto Amatsukami. I treated you like you were a child and thought that you needed my protection. I didn't trust your strength. There is no such thing as a perfect being in the world. Sometimes, two people who appear to be complete opposites are actually two sides of the same coin. And can only succeed when they work together; like the Izanagi and Izanami. Look at me and find in yourself what I couldn't find in me, but please do not say that I was perfect. First off, I should have acknowledged and appreciated myself for the person I was. If I had just done that, I never would have had to lie to anyone…to myself or to you. If you lie to yourself, how can you have friends or be trustworthy? In the end, all these lies will keep you from seeing your true self."_

 _Itachi's words cut deep into a lot of people watching. Artemis, M'gann, even Kaldur and Captain Marvel all took his words of accepting themselves for who they really were to heart. Even without directly speaking to them, Itachi still found a way to move their hearts. It even made Robin regret the harsh words he said to Itachi before all of this. It also made them start to see that Itachi really was like them and made no bones of hiding who he was or any of his flaws. They knew that after this, they could trust him again._

 _Itachi had decided that now was the time to stop the Reanimation Jutsu. He was going to return all of the dead to where they belonged and bring the war to an end. Sasuke and everyone else knew what that meant; Itachi would leave this world forever. Itachi acknowledged that, but still felt it was the right thing to do because it meant that he succeeded in protecting his village. It meant that he was Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf once again._

" _I have no more regrets." Itachi said peacefully. Sasuke couldn't accept that, "But why?! Why help the very village that did this to you?! You may be able to forgive the Leaf, but I can't! You have no more regrets, but what about what you made me become? What about that, huh?!" Sasuke vented angrily._

" _I'm not the one who can change you, Sasuke. But I can stop this Reanimation Jutsu. By doing that, I can fulfill my promise to Naruto." Itachi then lifted Kabuto's sealed eyelids to put him under the Tsukuyomi and forced him to reveal how to stop the Reanimation Jutsu._

 _Sasuke and the others watching had a sad look on their faces. They knew that as Itachi forced Kabuto to weave the hand signs required to reverse the Reanimation Jutsu, it would mean that these were his last moments. Sasuke voiced this as his brother focused on the task at hand._

" _I guess…it won't matter what I say, will it? As soon as I found you, I tailed you because I wanted to confirm whether or not Tobi and Danzo were telling me the truth. But that wasn't the only thing I was able to verify. When I'm with you, I remember things…childhood feelings of adoring my big brother. That's the reason why the closer I get to you…the closer we become to how we were as brothers and the more I understand you, the more I come to hate the Hidden Leaf Village for causing you so much pain. I hate it more now that I had ever hated it before. I know what you want me to do and how you want me to be. You're my big brother…so I know you're going to disapprove, but it's because I'm your brother that no matter what you say to me it won't change anything. Even if you protect the village now, I'll still destroy it someday. So I guess…this is goodbye." Sasuke said sadly._

 _Itachi finished having Kabuto reverse the Reanimation Jutsu and instantaneously Itachi, along with the other reanimations, started to glow. Their souls were being called back to the afterlife. As Itachi began to glow and slowly wither away, he turned to head towards his brother. He still had things he needed to say before time ran out for him._

" _There's still time…I can feel myself slowly losing consciousness now. I must tell you everything…before I say goodbye and we part for good. There's no reason for me to lie anymore. The night I left you…I did everything Danzo and Tobi…told you I did. I'll show you the entire truth." Itachi said as he put Sasuke under the same genjutsu he had the others under. Sasuke was going to see the Uchiha Downfall along with the events beforehand from Itachi's perspective._

 _He and the others saw Shisui beg Itachi to stop the war, the elders coming up with the plan to murder the Uchiha Clan, Danzo coercing Itachi to doing the dirty work in order to save Sasuke, Itachi making the deal with Tobi to help exterminate the Uchiha, and they even saw Itachi standing before his and Sasuke's parents as they had resigned themselves to dying by their son's sword. They all heard the turmoil in Itachi again the promise he made to his father to take care of Sasuke. The tears Itachi shed as he murdered his parents just as they had called him kind and the pain of Sasuke as he walked in on it moments later. Sasuke had finally seen the truth from Itachi. It was painful for the others to see again too. Itachi kept slowly pushing forward while speaking to his brother._

" _There is nothing more to say. I have told you the whole truth. I won't have to ever again. I have…always lied to you and asked for your forgiveness while keeping you at a distance…all because I wanted to keep you out of this. But now I think…that perhaps you could have changed father, mother…and the rest of the Uchiha as well. If had only come to you from the start, looked straight into your eyes and told you the truth, then I wouldn't have to stand before you as a failure telling you all of this. So this time, for once…let me tell you one small truth," Itachi said as he reached his brother. He gently put his hand behind Sasuke's head and laid his forehead against his brother, almost symbolizing how intimate and precious this last chance meant to Itachi._

" _You don't ever have to forgive me. And whatever you do from here on out, or what you choose to become know this…I will always love you." Itachi said with as much love as he could to his brother._

 _The light around Itachi started to grow brighter, indicating that his time was coming to an end. Everyone saw the literal spirit of Itachi leave the reanimated body. Itachi's spirit had the biggest, most content smile ever. As he went to return to the afterlife, everyone heard his last dying thoughts as he reflected on his life._

' _This…is the last time. I truly…thank you, Sasuke. No matter what darkness surrounded me in my life, in the end I can die with a smile because being able to live as your brother…made me…happy.' He thought as he disappeared in a flash of light._

" _Wow, I don't know what to say…" Superman said. M'gann went to hug Itachi, "I do. Thank you for sharing this with all of us. As dark as it was for you, I'm glad that in the end you got to pass away in a flash of white light while looking into your brother's eyes."_

" _Yeah, it was a beautiful moment. I can only hope to go out in such a peaceful way." Hal Jordan said._

" _It's not over yet. I still have to show you, how I was placed in your world and why I'm here." Itachi said as he changed to the next thing he saw. Next thing they all knew, they were standing before the God of Itachi's world._

 _After Itachi said goodbye to Sasuke, he was summoned by the Sage of Six Paths, who is the God of the shinobi world. Itachi kneeled in reverence, but was told to stand._

 _"I have a mission for you Itachi, only you can complete it." Itachi wanted to outright say no to the mission but, out of respect and reverence, he heard him out. The others looked on in confusion before asking about what they were watching._

" _This is your God? Is this a normal thing that he does?" Marvel asked. Itachi shook his head, "As far as I know, no it isn't. It must have been dire for him to resort to this."_

 _"What mission do you need me to complete?" The Sage then started to shed tears, "I am truly sorry, Itachi. You have lived a hard life. I know that you deserve to rest, but the world needs you to do one more thing for it."_

 _Itachi wanted to refuse, but the thought of Sasuke being in danger made him accept. He has already proven that he would kill and die for his brother. "What more does the world need of me? I have murdered my entire clan, been marked as a terrorist, and killed by my own brother. I did all of it willingly and still died smiling, but still I can't be in peace. Why?"_

 _The Sage pointed his staff at Itachi and immediately Itachi felt a surge of power flowing through him, "My child, it is true that you have sacrificed much for this world to remain at peace. Death should be the ultimate release, but I require more of you."_

 _"What more can I do for this world past dying for it." He asked now curious and frustrated about his mission._

 _"You have already died for the good of the world, but now your mission is to live for the good of the world." The Sage then performed a jutsu and soon Itachi felt a great flash before feeling nothing._

 _"Good luck child, I hope you very well may succeed." The Sage then turned towards the Great War happening and continued to observe it._

' _Perhaps you can succeed where I failed. You may not have been the one the change your brother, but maybe you can be the one who changes…no best not to get my hopes up.' The Sage thought before the scene went black._

" _This is getting so confusing. So you were revived by God and sent on some special mission to save our world. But from what?" Canary asked. Itachi shook his head, "I don't know. Whoever it is that is threatening your world also means to cause harm to mine as well. They must be powerful if not even the Sage of Six Paths could apprehend them. I don't know how he expects me to do what he can't" Itachi replied._

" _Together…as a team." Artemis said while smiling at her friend. She also got treated to seeing Itachi's first memory of waking up in this world. He opened his eyes to seeing Carson as she had the biggest look of concern to him, "So you got you wake up the same way you died; staring into the eyes of someone who cares about you."_

 _Itachi nodded as he inwardly smiled. Robin though voiced his shock and glee, "Wait, you know Carson?! This is so good!"_

 _And just like that the inward smile went away and he went back to his normal brooding as the memory genjutsu was over._

* * *

Batman and the other Leaguers had a lot to consider. Seeing Itachi's complicated past really put them into a jam about what to do about him. They were in the conference room discussing it while the others sat in the living room. Artemis got impatient as to why the Leaguers were taking so long.

"What's there to discuss? Itachi is a good person and he's one of us. They just need to hurry up and announce it," She ranted.

"It is not that simple. I feel the same way as you do. Itachi is our friend, but that doesn't change the fact that his past is filled with darkness. That darkness scared them." Aqualad explained.

"But he couldn't control that. You saw his world. It's corrupt and evil to the core. Surely they can see that and understand." M'gann spoke up.

"They won't," Itachi said. The others looked at him in disbelief. Robin spoke up in agreement with him, "He's right. They are really strict with the no killing rule. Even though all of this…happened in another world under impossible circumstances, I know for a fact that it won't dissuade Batman off of his stance."

"Especially after they saw Itachi himself admit that there was probably another way he could have saved his village. I don't see how this ends well for him," Wally added.

"Of course you two would say that. You guys were on the forefront of the "Itachi is a murderer" club." Conner spat out. His words made Robin and Wally recoil out of shame.

"Look Itachi, we're sorry. We didn't know about your past or what went into why you did what you did. It was wrong of us," Wally stated humbly.

"You don't have to apologize to me." Itachi replied. He knew the tough position his past put them in and was sympathetic towards them because of it. Robin shook his head, "No, we do. You're our friend, but instead of giving you the benefit of the doubt, we judged you and called you harsh things. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us."

"There's nothing to forgive. We're comrades…and friends. Harsh words won't change that." Itachi replied. Robin and Wally were about to express their gratitude when the Leaguers emerged from the conference room, each having serious looks on their faces.

" **Here we go,"** M'gann thought to the others. Superman was the first to speak, "Itachi Uchiha, I'd like to start off by saying how sorry I am for the life you've lived. I think I speak for everyone when I say that no one should have to be force to do half the things that you've had to do. You were put in a difficult position having to choose between your home and your people, at such a young age too. You killed, lied, and died because you thought it was the only thing to do to preserve peace and save your brother. We could all learn from the self sacrifice you exuded."

"So does that mean that you're letting him stay on the Team?" Artemis asked. The leaguer got quiet and avoided eye contact. The teens knew that this was going to end well after that. Batman spoke next.

"With that being said, it doesn't change the fact that you did commit the crime of murder. We cannot turn a blind eye to that just because of complicated reasons. There would be no justice in that. Effective immediately, you will be indefinitely suspended from the Team. Your access to the Cave will be revoked along with any access to League assets." He announced much to the dismay of the Team.

"That's not fair! Itachi is just as much a victim as anybody else in his story. Where is his justice?"Artemis said while lashing at the caped crusader.

"How could you all vote for this?" M'gann asked her uncle with confusion and hurt in her voice. J'onn could barely look his niece in the face, "Given the circumstances, we felt this was the best course of action. Itachi isn't evil, but we can't just ignore his crimes."

"This isn't permanent. It's just until we can decide whether or not we can fully trust Itachi again. Not all of us wanted this, but the majority vote ruled out the rest of us." Canary said.

Canary, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, and surprisingly Superman were the ones who voted to keep Itachi in. Everyone else thought it was best to distance the League from him just until they could further gage how trustworthy Itachi was.

"This isn't fair! Itachi is just as much a hero as any of you are. He's saved all of us plenty of times, and even helped saved your city when you couldn't step up and do it yourself!" Conner said while pointing at Batman. He ignored the clone's jab at him and kept a straight face.

"We understand why some of you are upset, but please see it from our perspective. How can we go to battle with and send you all on missions with someone whom we don't fully trust. It's not fair to you all and it's not fair to Itachi. When we feel like we can fully trust Itachi again, he will have a place on the Team. It'll just take time." Wonder Woman said while trying to quell their anger.

The members of the Team were all disappointed and angry about the decision. Artemis and Conner were the angriest. Itachi was their friend and for him to go down for things he couldn't control that happened in another lifetime really didn't sit well with them. The Leaguers all understood their frustration, but for the moment this was the only option for them.

Itachi understood why the League came to the decision that they did. He wasn't angry at them in the slightest bit. He was more relieved that they all knew about him and that he didn't have to lie anymore. The only person left who didn't know about his past was Carson, but he still wasn't comfortable enough to tell her. He didn't want her perception of him to change.

"I understand your decision and accept it. This is your world and I will abide by your rules." Itachi said. Artemis looked at him incredulously at how easily he accepted these results. He gave her a look that quelled her down, "We're comrades whether we're on the same team or not, that will never change."

"I don't care what happened to you in the past. I will always trust you, Itachi." She replied. The whole Team got behind her and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. I couldn't ask for better friends." Itachi replied. Superman walked up to him and gave a sad smile, "I'm sorry we couldn't keep you on the Team. Trust me when I say that this will be temporary. The Justice League will help you save the world from whatever threat that has come here. You have my word."

Itachi nodded before heading to the zeta-tube. He turned to look at his comrades one last time before saying, "If you need me…for anything. I'll be there."

Itachi then went into the zeta-tube and left for Gotham. It was quiet in the Cave after Itachi's departure. The League went back into the Watchtower while the others stayed in the Cave and reflected on everything that they had seen today. They would never forget any of it.

* * *

When Itachi got back to Gotham, he went to Ms. Yumi's place. It was empty and all of the lights were off. She had left him a note saying that she would be gone till the morning because she was securing a new shipment of masks for the shop. Itachi hated when she did that. He's gone with her a few times to get shipments and each time they were greeted with sleazy scum. He didn't want her going out alone and getting hurt.

His thoughts soon shifted to someone else that he cared about. Itachi wanted to visit Carson, but decided against since she would have picked up on his mood and started asking too many questions. Plus, with how late it was into the night, he didn't want to disturb her since this was is her first day off since she started working at the mask shop. He ultimately decided to sleep in. Being the Crow could wait until tomorrow. He didn't know how things would end up with the League or his friends, but he knew that as long as he had breath in his lungs, he would always be there for them. After watching his life and all of the mistakes he made, Itachi was determined to never repeat them.

' _I will trust them to know what to do. I'm not alone in my mission. I have the Team on my side and together we will save the world.'_ Itachi thought before falling asleep.

Elsewhere, Wrath and the Masked Stranger were standing on top of a rooftop. Wrath questioned why the Masked Stranger decided to take him here, "Why are we here? I thought you were going to show me how to change the world and deliver true justice. How is this place supposed to help me with that?"

"It's not the place…it's the person inside who will help." The Stranger replied while pointing at the window with the open blinds. Through the other side of the window, Wrath saw a young woman with long, brunette hair. She had pale skin and wore glasses. The girl struck something in Wrath. He'd never seen this girl before, but for some reason it felt like he's known her his whole life.

"Who is that woman?" Wrath said while worried about the reaction he was having. He could feel his heart start to race at the sight of her. The Masked Stranger smiled inwardly at Wrath's reaction, "She is someone who is in love with Itachi Uchiha. She may not know it yet, and for that matter Itachi doesn't either, but he feels the same way. Her name is Carson and that sensation that you're feeling now is what Itachi feels whenever he's in the same room as her; love."

"Why did you feel the need to bring me here? Are you testing me?" Wrath said as he was getting angry.

"Yes, I am testing you. I want to know if you're just like Itachi and your father, or are you more like Madara and your brother Sasuke. Do you have what it takes to do what is right despite knowing that you could hurt someone that you love? You're father and Itachi couldn't. They chose death over killing the one they loved the most, but you can. Or am I wrong about you? Does this woman give you doubts?"

Wrath kept staring at her longingly. After seeing the rest of Itachi's memories, including his final goodbye to Sasuke, nothing had changed. All it did was buffer the reason why he hated Itachi as much as he did. He ruined their brother's life. Itachi is a living symbol of how twisted the world is; people who try to do good, but only succeed in creating more evil. Wrath planned on changing the world and making it a better place.

But in order to do that, he would have to kill a lot of people. Wrath started to wonder if he could kill Carson if the situation were to arise. The Stranger felt the doubt in Wrath and decided to give him some advice, "Look deep inside yourself and steel your resolve. In your crusade to change the world, that may include taking that girl out of it. You have to be willing to be hated by someone you love if you're going to bring about a change in the world."

"But I don't love her. I don't even know her…Itachi knows her. Itachi is the one who loves her…" Wrath started.

"…and," The Stranger said while trying to lead Wrath on. Wrath started to connect the dots, "She loves Itachi. Itachi loves her. I look like Itachi, so that means she will love me too. I can use her to get to Itachi. That's why you brought me here! To show me how to change the world and to show me how to beat Itachi."

The Masked Stranger nodded, "Excellent, my child. I knew you were special. You may not be able to directly get to Itachi, but she can. And since you and Itachi are identical, you can get to her. All of the pieces are in place. I've arranged for the heroes to be in the same place, at the same time here in Gotham in two months. It's up to you to get Itachi and Carson there as well. Then, you can eliminate everyone who opposes you all at once."

"How did you manage to pull that off?" Wrath asked. The Stranger pointed back towards where they came from, "The wrath of the dead will be felt."

Wrath instantly knew what she meant and smiled. The Masked Stranger slowly started got up to leave, but not before imparting these last words to Wrath, "And just to let you know. If I were as powerful as you, I wouldn't let a pest like Waller or James have control over me. I wouldn't even let someone like me have control. You are the catalyst for change in the world; what's right is what you say is right. Remember the downfall of Itachi and the Uchiha; never let that happen to you. Don't let scum corrupt that beautiful dream of justice. The people will see what you see and follow behind you. Make all of the deaths of both worlds mean something; that's all I ask of you."

The Stranger then disappeared into the night as Wrath kept staring at Carson. He had everything he needed; the venue, the right people, and the right time. He just needed to make it happen. Carson came to the window and stared at the moon above, but didn't seem to notice him. As he stared into her eyes, that sensation came back.

' _I don't love her. I'm not weak like Itachi…but why can't I stop staring at her then. The thought of her dying, kills me…'_ He thought sadly. Carson soon closed her blinds and Wrath snapped out of his trance. He took that as his cue and started to go back to Argus. One thing he knew for sure, if he was going to be all that he was meant to be, he had to get out from under Waller's thumb. Just as Wrath was about to leave, he found a vanilla envelope that was left by the Masked Stranger.

Inside were the pictures of a family. The pictures all had labels on them. When Wrath got to the father, he saw that his picture had the name Dollmaker written on it. He also saw that the picture of a little girl that he assumed was his daughter had word first written on it and she was carrying a doll in her hand. She looked sad and like she wanted to be anywhere but by her family. Wrath looked at the other contents and found two addresses, schematics to what looked like a church, and an unfiled police report that was thrown away by GCPD. When he put the pieces together, his blood started to boil. This would be his first step in changing the world.

He left and went back to Argus after hiding the contents of the envelope where he knew his superiors wouldn't find them. They questioned why it took him so long, but he replied that he wanted to verify that they were all dead. They reluctantly accepted that answer and put him in his stasis tube so he could go to sleep.

Wrath had a lot going through his mind. Itachi's past was one of them. Seeing it all play out like that strengthened Wrath's resolve to kill Itachi and change the world. Wrath thought on Itachi's advice to Kabuto and looked deep inside to see who he really was. Wrath knew that he was the advocate of the dead; of both the Uchiha and the dead of this world. He'd make sure that they receive true justice. He started when he killed the Suicide Squad, and he'll finish with Itachi's death. Once he finished with Itachi and the Justice League, he'd focus on the Masked Stranger and taking out whoever is behind the mask, along with any co-conspirators that they may have. The world Wrath planned on creating had no room for cowards who wore masks and operated in the darkness. To him, that's just another version of Itachi to worry about.

He also thought on Carson and how she made him feel. Wrath planned on meeting her in person to get a better feel as to why she confused him so much. His last thoughts went to that little girl in that picture and of how much pain was in her eyes. Wrath planned on making sure that the father felt that very same pain that the daughter felt, _'The Dollmaker will feel her despair…and her wrath.'_

* * *

(Final part of the truth done!) Whew! That took a lot longer than I had expected. Oh yeah I almost forgot, I'm back! It's been too long. With boot camp and "A" School, I was always swamped for time. But that's all done now! I've missed you guys so much! Thanks for all of the support you all gave me and now that I am a U.S. Sailor, I know that more love is to come. Wrath is on a mission to make change and I can't wait to show you all how he plans on doing it. It won't take me three months this time, I promise. Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews while I was gone. Let's keep it up and get this ball rolling again! Don't forget to send me a review or a PM to let me know what you think of these last few chapters! Until next time guys and gals!


	25. Unraveling

It has been three weeks since Itachi had revealed his past to the League and his friends. He left after the decision was made to suspend him and had been going it alone ever since. Itachi didn't need a team to strike the fear of God within Gotham's criminals. Just last night Itachi was on the prowl as the Crow. He stopped a big shipment of automatic assault rifles from being sold between two gangs in East Gotham. In Itachi's honest opinion he detested guns. To him they are a coward's weapon. He got some satisfaction in incinerating all of them.

Now, though, he was at work with Carson. She's really gotten the hang of working at the Mask Shop and he could tell that she enjoyed working here. When Itachi saw her the day after being suspended, he told her that he was going to be working alone for a while. When Carson asked why that was the case, Itachi gave her the vague, silent answer that she hated with a passion. Itachi didn't feel comfortable telling her about his past.

"Hey Itachi, are you going out later?" She asked. Itachi knew what she really meant was whether or not he'd go out as the Crow tonight. He's been out every night since the split from the League so he could reestablish his grip on Gotham, "No, why?"

"Oh…I was just wondering if you wanted to come over tonight…" Carson said slyly. Itachi showed no outward reaction to her, "You know I can't."

"But it's been three whole weeks Itachi. Gotham can survive one night without you out in the dark of the night…doing what you're doing. It'll just be for one night. I just really want to spend time with you." She said while trying to reason with him.

Itachi saw how sad she looked and felt bad. He hasn't been spending time with her outside of work and could tell that she was feeling neglected and worried. Itachi never intended for that to happen. Even Ms. Yumi was beginning to worry about Itachi's workload. He knew that in order to quell their worries, he'd have to compromise.

"…if I do this for tonight, will you stop being so worried about me?" Itachi said while trying to put her mind at ease. Her face brightened up into a smile and she gave her friend a hug. Itachi was surprised by how happy this made her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise you won't regret it." Carson said joyfully. She let go and held both of his hands in hers, which made Itachi feel awkward. She had a way of making him feel like he was back at the Ninja Academy again. Ms. Yumi gave a knowing cough which made Carson quickly realize what she was doing and back away feeling just as bit as awkward as Itachi was, except now she was also blushing.

"Now Itachi, I wouldn't have thought that I had to reprimand you for fraternizing while on the job." The old woman said jokingly. Itachi shook his head and went back to the front of the shop as Carson feverously tried to explain the situation.

Itachi went out and saw that it had begun raining. It was about time to close the shop for the night. For some reason, Itachi had a bad feeling about tonight and wondered why that was. Between Batman, Robin, and himself, Gotham was as protected as any city in the world. Ms. Yumi joined him in the front no long afterwards.

"My child, you look like you have a lot on your mind. Is everything alright?" She asked in a concerning tone.

"It's the rain. It's unlike anything I've ever felt before." Itachi answered. Ms. Yumi cocked her head to the side as she looked on. To her it felt like a normal night of rain to her. They could both see thunderbolts in the sky and the loud cannon like sounds that followed. Itachi was about to turn around and let Carson know that he was going to go out, but Ms. Yumi stopped him.

"You promised that girl that you'd spend time with her and I won't allow you to renege on her like that." She said while scolding him. Itachi was about to protest, but she wasn't having any of it, "A little rain won't harm this city. Itachi you can't do everything. Go with Carson and enjoy the night off. The city won't burn if you decide to have one night of fun for yourself. I'll take care of closing up the shop…so go."

Itachi knew that there was no point in arguing with the older woman. Sure he could just send a clone or a crow, but she'd definitely find out and scold him for it. So he decided to just do as she said and went back for Carson. She was busy counting the cash from her register when she noticed Itachi walk up to her.

"Get ready to go. Ms. Yumi says that she'll finish up closing for us." Itachi informed her.

"Is she sure? I still haven't counted all of the masks in stock yet. I don't want her to do all of this by herself." She replied out of concern for her boss.

"She's tougher than she looks. Plus, she's really adamant on me spending time with you tonight and wants to make sure that I don't break my promise to you." Itachi revealed.

"Is there something going on tonight?" Carson asked in concern. Itachi shook his head, "No, but I got a bad feeling from the rain."

Carson shook her head and wanted to laugh at her friend for his paranoia, "You can't be serious. Itachi, it rains a lot in Gotham. I know you've been here long enough to figure that out."

Itachi stayed silent for a while. In his head thoughts ran wild, _'That's why it worries me. I've been here for all of this time, but it's not until tonight that I got this feeling. It's so raw that it's indescribable.'_

"Look…if it worries you this much then-" Carson was about to let Itachi off of the hook, but he stopped her, "No, it's alright. Gotham can wait for night. Come on, if I remember correctly your favorite show comes on tonight. What was it again…Officers of Sword?"

"Agents of Shield you dork." She could tell by his sly smile that he already knew that. Itachi and Carson then headed out back to Carla's place. Carson was still staying there and she figured Carla wouldn't mind having company over. Ms. Yumi watched on as they left the shop. All she wanted was for Itachi to be happy and she knew that Carson made Itachi happy. She smiled as the storm raged on.

* * *

Wrath stared at the pictures that were in the envelope left to him by the Masked Stranger. He was standing on the Gotham Cathedral. It was the tallest building in Gotham's skyline and was the spiritual center of Gotham, especially after being renovated by Wayne Enterprises. People from all over the world visit the Gotham Cathedral for prayer and spiritual healing. Wrath could hear the congregation of at least 2,000 people heap praise to their deity as the thunder crashed all around the city.

"They just might be louder than the thunder. It's too bad I'm not just thunder…I'm the whole goddamn storm." Wrath said as he leapt from the top of the church. Tonight will be a night that Gotham never forgets.

Wrath landed on a building nearby and dashed on to get his debut started. Waller and Argus had no idea what he was doing. When they asked he replied by saying that he was going to remove some of the filth that the city was infested with. They reluctantly let him go and that's what he's been doing this entire week; setting up for tonight.

The storm around him intensified as he traveled onward. The clone soon found himself across the street from the target of his ire; the Dollmaker. The monster's real name is Barton Mathis. He is a deranged surgeon who kidnaps little children, molests them, murders them, and finally harvests their organs to sell on the black market. Once he was done, Mathis would use their empty husks to create life-sized dolls for the police to find. Wrath was here to deliver justice to Dollmaker for his crimes.

A car drove off from the driveway of his house. It had the man's wife and two sons in it. They were on their way to Gotham Cathedral. As ironic as it is, the man and his family happen to be one of faith. They went to the cathedral every Wednesday and Sunday. This Sunday was particularly special because it was the cathedral's ten year anniversary. It was why over 2,000 people were in attendance tonight. With it being late Saturday night, they wanted to praise and give thanks all the way till midnight.

The Mathis resident now only held two people; Barton Mathis and his adopted daughter Cassandra Cain. As it would turn out, Cassandra has lived a life filled with pain and suffering. Gotham had no records of her origins, but the Argus mainframe did. She is the daughter of David Cain and the legendary Lady Shiva. She was created and raised to be a top bodyguard of Ra's al Ghul.

Her mother gave Cassandra up at birth to her father, David. David is a member of the League of Shadows and trained his daughter to follow in his footsteps. She was deprived of the basic needs of a child. Things like love, security, and education were excluded from her. When she was eight years old, he took her for her first mission; to kill a businessman. She killed him like as was expected of her, but she didn't revel in it like how her father did. It scarred her emotionally because even at a young age she knew that murder was wrong. She also knew her father was evil for using his own daughter to commit such a dark crime.

Cassandra ran away after that. She ran as far as possible until she found herself in Gotham. It wasn't long before child services got a hold of her. They kept her in their care until she was adopted by a loving family in need of a daughter. That family was the Mathis family and it turned out to be Cassandra's worst nightmare. Barton, her foster-father, was a monster just like her own father.

Her very first night in her new home, she was struck by her foster-father. Cassandra didn't fight back because she knew that she'd kill him if she did, and she didn't want to kill anyone ever again. Cassandra also didn't run away because she knew that he'd just adopt another little girl and abuse her instead. Cassandra did the only thing she could to prevent that from happening; she took it. It was better to suffer in silence and take the pain yourself rather than pass the hurt onto others. For years, Cassandra was beaten, molested, experimented on, and broken for her step-father's sick obsession.

Cassandra just kept moving forward despite the pain because she knew that in a twisted way, this was her punishment for murdering that man. The Dollmaker was what he made her call him during their "play sessions".

One day, after years of abuse and torture, she had had enough and went to anyone who'd listen about her foster-father. Cassandra told her foster-brothers and foster-mother, but they did nothing to help. They figured that as long as it was happening to Cassandra, it couldn't happen to any of them. Cassandra's next move was to tell the GCPD. She provided DNA and was willing to testify, but her case was thrown out. They said that they weren't going to go after one of Gotham's top surgeons based off of the shaky testimony of a mentally depraved little girl. Her last hope was the Cathedral Pastor. Cassandra went to him and revealed everything that had happened to her since being adopted by her foster family. Being unable to speak made it hard but she pushed herself to try. His reaction hurt her the most. He pulled her in front of the entire congregation and declared her a lying witch who needed to repent. The entire church cheered on as she was rebuked and chastised. Cassandra came home to a beating just like every other time she tried to report her foster-father. She'd given up after that and abandoned any hope of being free of him and his evil ways.

Wrath decided to make his move and went to the Dollmaker's home. He kicked the door open much to the surprise of Barton.

"Barton Mathis, or I should say Dollmaker, you're time has come. Death is here for you." Wrath declared as he threw shuriken at the criminal. Dollmaker found himself pinned to the wall and unable to move. Wrath smiled as his target was helpless to defend himself.

"How does it feel? Being helpless and alone…how does it feel?" Wrath asked as he slowly got closer and closer to the scared surgeon. Barton gulped and started sweating out of fear, "It's terrifying."

"Oh really? So why do make your daughter feel that way then? You beat her, molest her, and cut her open to practice with your black market organ business. You're a monster who needs to die. The world is a better place without you in it." Wrath said as he brought out a kunai knife.

"Please, have mercy. T-Turn me in to the GCPD and I'll confess to everything. Don't kill me! I have a family!" The man begged. Wrath smiled and pressed his knife onto Barton's neck.

Cassandra had walked down the stairs and could see a stranger that was in her home. He held a knife to her foster-father's neck and looked like he was about to kill him. She got into a defensive fighting position because she thought that he was sent by her father to take her back, but Wrath put her at ease when he lightly tossed the kunai so that it landed by her feet.

"I'm not here to kill Barton and I'm not here to take you anywhere. Cassandra, My name is Wrath. I know what you've been through. You've lived such a hard life." Wrath started with a sad, sympathetic look on his face.

Cassandra gasped at hearing this. For the longest time that she could remember no one would believe her about the monster she lived with. They all either passed the buck or just shot her down. It almost gave her hope that this nightmare of a life might end. But the more pressing matter was wondering why this man had her foster-father pinned to the wall.

Wrath saw the question in her eyes and decided to answer her, "I didn't come here to kill him. In fact, you have my word that I won't even attempt to touch him from this moment onward. My true reason for coming here is you. This is all about you Cassandra and what you want."

She stood there with a shocked look on her face. She couldn't speak because she was deprived of education while growing up. Training was more important to her father then raising a normal daughter. Wrath knew of her inability to speak and used his Sharingan to bridge the gap.

"You're confused. For as long as you can remember it's felt like the entire world has been against you. You're wondering how and why a stranger like me would be interested in you. The answer is simple; we're cut from the same cloth. Like you, I was created to be a weapon of murder and evil. That's why like me, you can overcome it and be better than what you were created for." He started.

"S-Same….c-cloth…" she said slowly trying to grasp what he was saying. Her foster-father interrupted and tried to get her to help, "What are you waiting for?! Kill him! I know you have the ability so do it now!"

Wrath gave him a chilling look, but it quickly turned into a smile, "This man has caused you so much pain. He is a monster…but so am I. I don't want you to make up any false images of me. I, too, am a monster. I'm the bad guy."

"Why….you….here?" Cassandra asked. Wrath gave her an understanding look before answering, "To show you a different path. I want you to see what I see, hear what I hear, feel what I feel, save how I save, and judge as I judge. This man will be the first step in that. I want to change the world so that men like him don't exist in it anymore."

"You….evil?" She asked him. Wrath merely shrugged his shoulders, "Like I said before, I am the bad guy."

"No….not bad….you…evil? There's…difference." She said with great struggle. He smiled that she was able to differentiate the difference between bad and evil, "I want you to answer that for me at the end of the night. After all of this is done, tell me if you think I am evil or not."

"Evil…always…in world." She said despondently. Wrath knelt down from where he was so that they were at eye level, "That's only because of people like you. You thought it was better to feel pain yourself rather than inflict it on others. When you killed that man, it scarred you to the point where you didn't want to do anything anymore. But doing nothing is the same as endorsing evil."

"My…fault?" She asked. Wrath nodded his head, "Yes, it's your fault. Your unwillingness to use your gifts is the reason why you and so many others live in Hell. It's better to feel pain yourself rather than inflict it on others…what a lie. Are you sure that's the way because all I see in this house is pain."

"What…I…do…then?" She asked with doubt.

"Kill him," Wrath said. She and Barton looked up with fear in their eyes, "Become what you were meant to be and kill him. You are so much greater than some bodyguard for an old man. You can be a true hero. But what you're doing now, there's nothing heroic about it. It's just sad and pathetic."

"I…can't. Killing…wrong." She said through tears. Wrath shook his head, "Is it so wrong? You don't know, do you? You're noble sacrifice for the safety of others is futile."

She gave him a confused look as he headed towards the basement. Wrath motioned for her to follow him, but Barton protested. He started thrashing and yelling at her to not go down there with that man. Cassandra normally would have obeyed her foster-father's demands, but for some reason her legs moved on their own and she wound up going to the basement. She was never allowed out of her room after she tried to report her foster-father so she was seeing all of this for the first time. She fell to her knees and cried when she saw what was in the basement.

"All of the drawbacks and detriments in this world stem from a lack of individual ability and willpower to do what is necessary. This scene is a perfect example of that. I bet you had no idea the Dollmaker had all of these little children here chained away in the darkness. This is what your noble sacrifice for the good of others has amounted to."

In the basement were dozens of chained children, some of whom were dead. Cassandra could see by some of the scars on their bodies that they too were cut open and operated on, only they had their organs taken for real. They all scurried back in fear.

"I…no…understand…" She said as Wrath turned the lights on so that she could see the full scope of this atrocity. It reeked of blood and corpses as she saw some of the dead children were modified into plastic dolls by having their organs taken out and filled with polymer wax. Wrath took his sword out from his sheathe.

"All of this started when you first tried to report your foster-father. He got scared and wanted to kill you. You technically don't exist so it's not like Gotham would miss you. But his wife convinced him to spare you. Don't get your hopes up. She only did it because if you had died that meant that he'd just start abusing her next. She's a coward and is just as guilty as he is. She gave him the idea to start taking other homeless children to work on. He'd kidnap them and bring them here. After he was done abusing you, he'd come down here and start doing it to them. The walls are soundproof so you never heard their screaming from your room upstairs."

She couldn't believe any of this. All of these children were like this because of her. Wrath eased the children of their fear and started breaking all of their chains to set them free. They all nervously got up as Wrath turned to address Cassandra.

"Look over there. That little mattress isn't for them to sleep on. Barton would bring vile men to do to those children what he would do to you. He figured there was just as much money in child trafficking as there was in organ selling," Cassandra looked at the aforementioned mattress. It was covered in blood. The children saw the mattress and recoiled in fear. Wrath put them at ease when he burned it to the ground, "Don't worry. That man won't ever hurt you again. No one ever will again, I promise."

"I….weak…" Cassandra said with tears. She saw all of the boys and girls and the condition she was in. Wrath shook his head, "Yes, you are. You had every tool you needed to kill this man, but you chose to take the moral highroad and suffer. These children paid the price for your inability to act. Killing isn't evil…letting someone else suffer because your decisions is evil. You failed these children just like you failed that man you murdered that day."

Cassandra looked up at Wrath with a look of desperation for him to stop, "You should have killed your old man on the spot after he made you do what you did. He's not going to stop. Your father is just going to birth another kid in this world and ruin their life as well. You have no right to play the victim, Cassandra. You chose this path. You did this to them."

The children looked at Cassandra in confusion as she started shouted in pain and denial, "Why are you crying? This is your doing. You chose to feel pain rather than inflict it on others. You trying to be the hero caused all of this. You enabled this monster instead of putting him down along with the rest of his kind. You chose to be neutral and play both sides. Cassandra, you even tried to pass the buck to others and let them deal with your problems. The world can't change unless you are bold enough to do it with your own hands. You have the ability to change this dark world into something bright and beautiful, like roses."

"How…" She asked of Wrath. He pointed upwards, "You know how. Sometimes in order to change one thing, that means having the resolve to burn away something else. You suffering in silence didn't make you kind, it made you weak. Be the hero you were meant to be and save these children. Don't suffer any more for this cruel world. Create the world you want to live in."

"You…not…evil. The….world….evil." She said as she stood with conviction for the first time in years. She walked to him and took his sword from his hands. Wrath smiled before heading back up the stair to confront Barton once again.

Wrath walked up the stairs and saw that Barton was still pinned to the wall. He walked up to him and started to remove the shuriken that held him captive, "Stop squirming. You'll make me cut you on accident. I'm a man of my word. I won't kill you tonight."

"Thank you! I-I promise that I'll turn over a new leaf and never-" Wrath glared at him with the most intense look of hatred Barton had ever seen. Wrath turn towards the basement as the both of them heard small footsteps ascending from them, "You didn't let me finish. I won't kill you, but I'm still a man of my word. Death has come for you tonight."

Wrath then saw all of the children Barton had captive along with Cassandra. They all held knives in their hands and had looks on their faces that could kill. Wrath gave Barton a kunai and stepped to the side, "You're gonna need this."

Cassandra stalked her foster-father slowly as he begged her for his life. She glared at him and was visibly shaking with rage. He saw this and tried to thrust his kunai through her stomach, but she easily deflected it with Wrath's sword and knocked the kunai out of his hands. Dollmaker tried to run after that but saw that he was surrounded by the other children that he was holding captive. He knew that he was trapped and tried one last desperate plea.

"Cassie, please don't do this. I know I may not have been the best father to you, but at least I didn't abandon you like your real parents. I gave you a home, fed you, clothed you, and loved you the best way I could. That has to count for something." He said pitifully with scared tears in his eyes.

She smiled at him before thrusting her sword into his stomach. He had a shocked look on his face as the blood poured out, "It….means….nothing. You…die…here…alone…in…darkness. You...evil…and world….better off…without…you!"

She then pulled the sword out so that she could stab him again. The other children joined in and started to savagely stab the man to death. Blood squirted everywhere as the man's scream in pain rang like music to Wrath's ears. When it was all done, Wrath knelt down and hugged Cassandra to calm her intense rage, "It's okay. You did it. You just made the world a better place and I thank you for it."

She and the other children got up and hugged him in return, "Thank you…for saving us." One of the children said. He shook his head in response, "You all saved yourselves. You could have stayed in that basement and let someone else kill him, but you rose up and did it for yourselves. You all changed the world because of it."

"What…now? Will…we…go…jail?" Cassandra asked. Wrath shook his head, "No, you're free for the first time in your lives. When they see the basement along with all of the horrors that it holds, they'll figure out how and why this happened. Hey, follow me outside."

They all went outside. He pointed the children to the Gotham Cathedral that towered over the city. Wrath brought out a paper-bomb and gave it to Cassandra. She looked at it strangely and asked what it was.

"This is the key that will open the door to the new world. I made it so that only you can use it. It is coded with your DNA. I got it from the sample you provided that the GCPD threw away. It's worthless to me; just a sheet of paper. But to you, this will change history." Wrath answered.

"What…it…do? And…why…me?" She asked. Wrath pointed towards the Cathedral, "It will burn away everyone who allowed that monster to roam freely. The reason why the pastor did nothing when you came to him is because he was profiting from Dollmaker. All of these children came from that corrupt man who threw them out on the streets when they had nowhere else to go. He along with the corrupt Detective Bullocks all were in on it. This one little sheet of paper will fix all of it and bring us one step closer to the new world. Will you forsake their sins as they have forsaken you, or will you deliver true justice and help change the world?"

Cassandra she knew that this piece of paper could kill a lot of people, but the words of Wrath made her honestly believe that it was necessary. The world is evil and cannot be allowed to go on as is. She looked at Wrath one last time before answering, "You…may…be…bad guy, but…you…not…evil. I…want…join…you."

She then placed her hand on top of the paper, and so did the other children. Cassandra was shocked, "We want to join you too." One of them said. The kanji on the paper vanished and almost instantly, a loud explosion was heard.

The children all turned to see that the entire Cathedral was engulfed in flames. Wrath had spent the entire week planting countless paper-bombs in that Cathedral. But he didn't want to be the one who pulled the trigger. Wrath wanted to see if his crusade would draw in others liked how he hoped it would. He was more than pleased when Cassandra and the other children sided with him and his stance against the world.

They all looked on in awe of the great fire. Out of 2,000 people in attendance, Wrath predicted that not one person should be able to survive. Not even the children deserved mercy. Everyone was just as guilty as that pastor for letting Cassandra and the other children suffer since they elected him as their leader. They all deserved to die in his eyes.

"Thank you for believing in me. I won't let any of you down." Wrath swore. The children went to hug him, which he returned.

"What…next?" Cassandra asked. Wrath let go and looked as the building began to fall to pieces. "This will put me on the Justice League's radar. They will try to hunt me down for this and I'll be waiting. I just killed a lot of people. Even women and children just lost their lives. There's no coming back from this for me. I want you all to live full, happy lives. That means I have to tear down this cruel world brick by brick, body by body."

"What…about…us?" Cassandra asked sadly. Wrath returned her sad look with one of his own. He truly cared for the safety and future of these children, "This has to only be me. I will take on the hatred of this world all on my own. You…all of you must live on. That's how you beat this world; by living. I will beat this world by killing. So go. I've already arranged for all of you to go to good homes that will treat you with the love that you deserve. The police should be here in a few minutes because of the call I made from your house phone."

"But…I…want…fight…with…you." Cassandra said with a determined look on her face. This man just saved not only her, but all of these children. She believed in his words and his will and wanted to fight with him.

"You finally get a fresh chance at life. You killed Dollmaker and the explosion killed the rest of your foster family. Don't ruin that chance by associating yourself with me. Just knowing that you believe in me is all that I need to keep pushing forward. You said that I wasn't evil…did you mean that?" Wrath asked sincerely.

"I…did." Cassandra answered. Wrath smiled, "Good, so listen to me and live your life. One day we will meet again and I will be honored to call you my friend and partner. Is that a deal?"

Sirens from fire trucks and ambulances could be heard in the distance, "What…you…do…next?" Cassandra asked. Wrath looked as the fire raged on, "I will make sure that the true evil gets the message."

Wrath then leapt away into the darkness. The children stood there as police arrived at the Mathis resident. When they asked what had happened, the children responded by saying that Wrath came for the Dollmaker and saved them all. The police had a confused look and went on with the investigation as they found what horrors were inside of the house. Cassandra looked on and sent a silent prayer that she may one day meet her friend again.

* * *

Itachi and Carson were both in Carla's home watching television. Itachi could say that he was actually enjoying himself and the time he was spending with Carson. She was truly happy having him around which made him happy. Even Carla joined in on the relaxing evening. That all changed when a giant explosion was felt and an emergency broadcast interrupted what they were watching not long afterwards. They all looked on in horror as the Gotham Cathedral, the city's spiritual center of hope and faith, was engulfed in raging flames.

Carson and Carla openly wept at the sight of it. Out of the fire came helpless people who tried to escape the flames, but they all died and succumbed to the searing heat of the flames. Even the charred corpses of young children could be seen in the broadcast. Charred body parts and organs were everywhere. It was a living nightmare that was being seen on television. Itachi felt intense rage when Vicki Vale reported that over 2,000 people were inside when the Cathedral went up in flames. It was easily the worst terrorist attack in Gotham's history.

' _How could I let this happen? All of those people are dead. I'm so sorry,_ ' Itachi thought with so much regret. Itachi went up to leave only for Carson to pull him back down. He looked at her and saw that she didn't want him to leave, "I went to church there. I had friends who were there tonight. They're all dead…"

Itachi understood and didn't resist the hug she gave him. She needed to be comforted. Even more explosion front he Cathedral was caught on camera as the building started to come crashing down. The debris killed a lot of the rescue personnel and reporters that were by the scene. It was truly an awful sight.

The camera's saw from the smoke emitting from the fire, that a message was being formed. Itachi saw that the smoke from the fire formed a word and that word read, "Wrath."

Carson looked up when Itachi said that and saw what he saw. It was probably what everyone in the world was seeing too.

"The person who did this...their name is Wrath." Itachi glared and swore that he wouldn't stop until he brought Wrath to justice for this heinous act against Gotham.

* * *

Wrath looked at his work from a nearby building. He grinned at everyone squirming inside that was grasping for any hope of life. He had just made one giant step into creating his new world. Wrath was looking at the smoke that spelled his name and contemplated on what this really meant, _'Itachi, you don't know about me. But I know you. You're going to come after me now and try to bring me down. I'll be waiting for you.'_

Wrath got up to leave and return to Argus. As he turned around he was met by a woman wearing a Cheshire Cat mask. She had her head cocked to the side as she looked at Wrath. She took her mask off and smiled, "Thanks for allowing us to gain custody of Cassandra Cain. A girl of her skill will be quite useful to the League of Shadows."

"She is precious to me. The only reason I'm allowing this is so that she can grow strong enough to be the hero she was meant to be. She will get strong enough to kill her father and then Cassandra will leave the League and seek me out again." Wrath predicted.

"Are you sure about that? If Ra's wants her to stay, she will-" Wrath cut her off. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and leered at her, "She will leave whenever she wants to. The new world I create will ensure that. She is the future. Old relics like Ra's, you, and I will burn away so that people like her can grow from the ashes."

"How poetic. You just killed a lot of people tonight. Good innocent people died because of you. You may think of yourself as a great liberator or usurper, but all I see is a crazy serial killer." Jade said plainly.

"I wouldn't characterize any of them as good or innocent. Nobody in this world is. They'd let little children be raped and mutilated just so that it wouldn't happen to them. They all deserved death. I refuse to sit back and watch as this corrupt world ruins anymore lives while I have the ability to stop it." Wrath countered.

"But 2,000 people? Did you really have to kill all of those people?" Jade asked curiously. Wrath walked up to her, "Yes, I did. I'll end up killing a lot more people by the end of this too. I won't stop until the wrath of the dead has been felt and true change occurs."

"I see. Why not join the League of Shadows? You remind me of our leader. He can help you achieve your goals in a cleaner way." She inquired.

"Because I want to change the world, not rule it. There is no clean way of going about doing that." Wrath responded. Jade chuckled before putting her mask on, "Suit yourself. So what's next?"

Wrath was about to speak when another explosion rang through Gotham. This time the explosion took place within the GCPD Headquarters. The building was still standing, but the left wing of the building was completely destroyed. Jade laughed again, "I take it that was you're doing."

"Yes and no. I may have dropped the bomb off, but like with the Cathedral, someone else pulled the trigger." Wrath answered as he unsheathed his sword.

"And who is the one responsible for pulling the trigger to this bomb?" Cheshire asked. Wrath turned to show the assassin that the nape of his neck was bleeding, "Amanda Waller. I take it she found out that I was the one who is responsible for the Gotham Cathedral being blown to Hell. Waller activated the bomb she had implanted in me when I was sedated but instead of my head being blown off, she just killed a good amount of Gotham City's finest. Now I'm heading off to the Argus so that I can get rid of them and make them pay for their atrocities too. I hope you don't have any friends there because I don't plan on leaving any survivors."

"Nope, kill as many of them as you want." She said offhandedly as Wrath began walking away. He turned and gave her a sincere look, "Please keep Cassandra safe and happy. The girl has been through enough already in her short life."

Wrath then disappeared as Cheshire Cat looked on. She returned the sad look Wrath gave her as it had reminded her that he wasn't evil. He just felt that this was the only way to truly bring about change. She shook her head before looking on at all of the chaos that was caused tonight.

"Yeah, I'll look after her for you." She said quietly to herself as she disappeared into the night. The sounds of sirens, fire, and wails of sadness filled the night that would change Gotham forever. It was the night that announced that Wrath had arrived and he came looking for blood.

* * *

That's it for this chapter! I know it's not much in terms of action, but I wanted to use this chapter to establish Wrath and develop his character for the story going forward. I want you all to see into his psychology and had a lot of fun writing this. There is nothing scarier than a villain who does wrong, but believes that they are right. And as you read, Wrath is also starting to get others to believe in him too. Now the whole world knows about him and I can't wait to write what the response will be, especially from Itachi and Batman since it happened in their city. Also what did you guys think of the rework of Cassandra Cain's origin story? She will definitely be a key player later on in the story once time has passed. As always let me know what you think by reviewing it or sending me a PM. I wanna thank each and every one of you who viewed, favorite, or followed the last chapters I uploaded. Until next time guys and gals!


	26. Secrets

It's late at night and Gotham is still reeling from the two explosions that have transpired. Both the Gotham Cathedral and the GCPD Headquarters were subject to massive explosions. The Cathedral was completely destroyed and all of the patrons inside are dead. All the city could do is watch as their spiritual hub burned to the ground in a giant inferno. Now the city had to deal with a second explosion in the GCPD that took out its entire left wing. The paramedics are still trying to get a tally on the total amount of casualties, but so far about five officers have been pronounced dead with about ten more that are still up in the air.

Nobody could understand how any of this happened, "Gotham has more than its fair share of vigilantes and heroes, so how could an attack of this magnitude be allowed to unfold. Innocent civilians and law enforcement alike have lost lives. There are corpses that used to be healthy, beautiful children that are now dead. The questions on everybody's minds now is who is this Wrath, what does he want, and why would he do something this horrible?"

Itachi saw the broadcast and felt searing rage. He, too, had those questions running through his mind, but unlike Vicki Vale, he had the tools to find out. Itachi got up with determination and swiftly put on his Crow gear to get handle on this nightmare. As much as Carson didn't want him to go because of her concerns about his safety, even she knew that what was happening to this city couldn't be ignored.

Itachi decided that he was going to head to the GCPD Headquarters first. As much as he felt sorrowful for the victims of the Gotham Cathedral attack, Itachi knew that the chances of him finding anything were slim to none with an explosion of that magnitude. The GCPD explosion wasn't nearly as devastating so hopefully he could find clues as to whom this Wrath is and how he did what he did. Itachi wanted to take down Wrath as soon as possible before any more people died.

As he travelled through the city Itachi saw the results of tonight's joint attack by Wrath. It wasn't just the dead that suffered at his hands, but it was also the living who felt the impact of this attack. People were mourning this great loss. Sirens were heard everywhere and there was a horde of people crying out in confusion as two buildings that served as pillars that protected this city had fallen. Children whose friends died in the Cathedral were weeping. Spouses and families of police officers that were caught in the GCPD explosion were in tears as the status of their loved one was either unknown or they were dead. This truly was the darkest night in Gotham that Itachi had ever seen.

As he was travelling, Itachi saw something that caused him to change his trajectory. Or more accurately, he saw someone.

* * *

Several police care could be seen escorting ambulances as the sped towards Gotham General Hospital. There were even cars heading to the hospital even without being escorts. Commissioner Gordon ordered it because with two explosions already in the night, Gotham couldn't afford for the hospital to be targeted as well. He had a bomb squad sent there along with all available personnel that the police force could afford to scout out that building. Gordon knew that this meant that any hope of catching Wrath tonight would be gone.

"Even if we knew what this bastard looked like, we wouldn't even be able to move on him. The threats of these explosions are too great. He could be walking in plain sight and we'd be forced to ignore him. It's infuriating!" Gotham ranted as he stood on the roof of what was left of the GCPD Headquarters.

"Boss, we just got confirmation that Detective Bullocks died in that explosion. That makes six of us that bastard has killed." Detective Montoya said sadly. Sure, she knew he was dirty, but that didn't mean he deserved to be blown to pieces like that.

"Another family I have to call. In one night, this Wrath guy has murdered well over 2,000 people. I don't understand why we keep getting these monsters. Each one seems like they're in a limbo competition; they just keep going lower and lower." Gordon said as he took another puff of his cigar.

Both he and Montoya looked at the bat-signal and sighed. They hoped the day would come where Gotham can finally be able to protect itself without the help of masked vigilantes, but sadly after seeing what tonight brought, Gordon knew that that day was a long ways away. Gotham turned the bat-signal on so that he could draw the attention of Gotham's Dark Knight. And even though he didn't want to admit it, Gordon also wanted the Crow to show up too.

He only hoped that they could help this city because he had the feeling the Wrath was a force of nature that Gotham nor the heroes of this world have never seen before. And to make things worse, tonight was Halloween which meant that all of the loons would use this chaos to mask all of their criminal activities. This was going to be a long night for everyone.

* * *

Artemis was currently with Zatanna on a night out in Gotham. As much as Artemis wanted the reason for it to be because she wanted to get to the bottom of Gotham's recent attacks, in truth she just wanted to let off some steam. It all started when the members of Team were all getting ready for school Halloween Dance when the news hit of what happened in Gotham. Everyone watched silently as the news broadcasters showed the devastation that had transpired. Over 2,000 people were dead, including women, children, and members of the GCPD. Robin was the saddest amongst the heroes because he had friends that attended that church and knew of good allies that worked on the police force. Artemis was sad too because she also had friends that probably died because of those explosions.

"Who could do something like this? It's so evil." M'gann said to herself. Wally walked up to her to try and comfort her, "Someone who is evil themselves, that's who. We're doing something about this, right guys?"

"Wrong." Batman answered as he walked in. Everyone looked at him with shocked expressions, "You are all to continue on as scheduled and go to your party. This is an omega class threat that none of you are to get involved in. Not even Robin is to interfere."

"But Batman, this Wrath guy just blew two giant holes in our city! How do you expect me to just sit idly by and do nothing?" Robin asked angrily.

"Because I told you to. You already have plans for tonight that can't be held off any longer. With me being gone, I will have someone else speak on my behalf. Do you understand?" Batman asked, though it was more of an order.

Robin reluctantly nodded his head before going off. The others watched as their friend was clearly upset with Batman's decision. Batman turned to address the rest of them, "I mean it. Don't let me catch you out in Gotham tonight. The results will not be pleasant."

With that the Dark Knight zeta-beamed over to his city so that he could try to salvage what had already turned into a giant catastrophe. He had planned on using tonight to discuss whether or not there was a mole to worry about with the leadership of the Team. But this news threw that to the wayside and now he has to try and figure out who this Wrath person is and why he decided to murder thousands of people.

Having reluctantly accepting that it was best not to cross paths with Batman when he was angry like this, the rest of the Team decided to go on with their plans of partying. They all went back to getting dressed for the party and tried to put off the horrendous scenes they saw on the news, at least until things calmed down a bit and they had more say in the matter.

Artemis was off to a corner by herself as the others chatted. Ever since Itachi was "indefinitely suspended" from the Team, she had been on edge with all of them. She could only imagine how someone like Itachi was handling everything that was happening in Gotham.

' _He's probably doing the same thing Batman is. Off all alone when he knows that it's better to have back up. I have barely heard from him since he left the Team. Just because jerks like Batman had him kicked off doesn't mean that we still didn't want to hang out with him. He didn't even respond to our invitation to the Halloween Dance party. To be fair, none of us expected him to say yes, but a response could have been nice. If it has nothing to do with the Crow, he won't even talk to us. I hate it. I met Itachi long before I met the Crow. I just want things to go back to the way they were…'_ She thought sadly.

She was interrupted from her when Zatanna came up from behind her, "Penny for your thoughts."

Artemis quickly got over the shock and addressed her friend, "Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about Gotham and Itachi. I know this news must have hurt him too. Itachi is really for protecting one's home. To see this happen in his backyard must have crushed him…" Artemis said sadly.

"I understand. After what you all revealed to me about his past I really feel bad for the guy. It's like death just seems to follow him wherever he goes. I hope he finds peace in all of this somehow." Zatanna offered.

"Yeah, me too. Well enough about that I guess. Talking about it will only make me feel worse. Besides, we're about to party like there's no tomorrow. And with everything that's just transpired tonight, I bet the reason Batman is so adamant on us still doing this is because he knows that this will be our last chance to do this for quite some time. So let's let loose for tonight." Artemis said while trying to hype herself back up for this party.

She had a feeling that tonight was the night she'd finally make her move on her crush; Conner. Artemis always thought that Conner was cute and made no bones about hiding her affections for him just like Wally with M'gann. Tonight showed her that you never know what could happen in the future so it's best to live in the now and have no regrets about it.

"That's the spirit! I'm just bummed that Kaldur and Robin can't come with us." Zatanna said disapprovingly.

"Yeah, but Kaldur said that he had an important meeting with Aquaman and with what just happened to Gotham, Robin not feeling like dancing is very understandable. Heck, I barely feel like it." Artemis replied.

"Those two definitely feel like dancing, maybe even more." The young magician joked. Artemis looked up saw that she was referring to M'gann and Conner. They were sitting pretty close to each other, "Who, Conner and M'gann?" She asked incredulously.

"Obviously. There's no way I was talking about her and Wally. I mean look at them. How long has Conner and M'gann been a couple?" Zatanna asked.

Artemis laughed at the question. There was no way in her mind that innocent M'gann and bad-boy Conner could ever be a couple, "Ha! A couple? No, they're not…"

Artemis stopped when she saw how they were looking at each other. It was the same way she looked at Conner when she was sure no one was looking. She also heard how blatant they were flirting with each other and put two and two together.

' _They're a couple? They're actually a couple?! Well forget them...'_ She thought angrily. Beneath that anger was a lot of hurt and rejection though. She walked away without saying a word as Zatanna followed after her.

"Uh, I…I'm sorry. It just seemed so obvious. I-I didn't realize…wait, the dance." Zatanna said. She really didn't want her friend to leave over something like this.

"I'm not in the mood. Of course, sitting at home with my mom crying about Gotham doesn't sound any more appealing." Artemis answered. She raised a brow when she saw the devilish grin on Zatanna's face.

"Well, there is another option. Egnahc sehtolc otni ruo smrofinu! A girls' night out." Zatanna said as she transformed both her and Artemis into their hero uniforms. Artemis quickly agreed and decided they'd ride out on the Cave's bikes.

Now they were in Gotham both hoping to avoid Batman and hoping to run into some criminal to provide a distraction for just how awful the night had started.

* * *

Back in the Cave, there was a meeting being held between Kaldur, Robin, Red Tornado, Red Arrow, and Black Canary. She did Batman a huge favor and decided to fill in for him. Partly because she felt bad about what had happened to his home, but also because she cared about the Team herself and wanted to make sure that everyone on it was safe.

"Computer, secure the room." She ordered for privacy. Canary eyed everyone as the meeting went underway, "I'll cut to the chase. Do we still think that's there's a mole within the Team?"

"I am convinced there is none. When Sportsmaster claimed he had an inside source, he was merely sowing dissent." Aqualad firmly answered.

"His intel could easily have come by comparing notes with the other villains working for the Injustice League. And think about it. If anyone on the Team was working with those creepoids…" Robin started. He really hated being here instead of in Gotham, but he knew that Batman would chew him out if he caught him there.

"He or she would have betrayed us during our fight against them." Aqualad finished for his teammate. Red Arrow still had his doubts.

"I'm not convinced. Sure, you two and Kid Flash are above suspicion, but I know Artemis isn't shooting straight. For starters she's not Green Arrow's niece." Roy revealed.

Kaldur was shocked to hear that, though Robin had already come to know the truth. He was just about to reveal her true origins when Black Canary stopped him. She felt that even though Artemis's relations made her look suspect, but she still was just as entitled to a secret identity as anyone else was.

"Batman is more concerned about Superboy and as much as it pains me to admit it…he has a point. We still don't know much about what Cadmus had in mind when they created him. Connor could be the mole and not know it." Canary said sadly. She's really grown fond with Connor and is impressed with how much progression he has made.

"And what about Miss Martian? She is Manhunter's niece. But I remember him telling you that he has a few hundred nieces and nephews. Problem is that the first time he met M'gann was five months ago, when she stowed away on his ship on his last trip from Mars to Earth." Roy argued.

Red Tornado had a hard time hearing members of his new family be slandered like this. Roy really went there when it came to Itachi, "And don't get me started on the Crow. You all have to suspect him, don't you? A guy who turns out to be a mass murderer and former double spy from a different Earth just shows up and suddenly we get messages about a mole being on the Team. That can't be a coincidence."

"Itachi wasn't even on the Team when Aqualad was informed about the mole. The only person who knew him at the time was Artemis." Robin said while coming to his friend's defense.

"And you wonder why I suspect her so heavily. As far as I'm concerned, both Artemis and Crow are top suspects to being the mole. I just wish that I could have been there to give that murderer a piece of my-" Roy got interrupted by the Team's leader.

"Enough! We told you about his past to cast away suspicion, not bring forth judgement from you. This meeting and the accusations of their character changes nothing. I have stood and fought side-by-side with all of these people. Itachi saved our lives before he even knew what our names were, all at Artemis's request. None are traitors." Aqualad firmly stated in reply to the personal attacks by Red Arrow. He hated hearing his friend being slandered like this. The meeting yielded no results.

* * *

Artemis and Zatanna had stopped by the art museum that was just robbed. Whatever police the GCPD could offer to send went there to investigate. Employees and security guards were murdered and the suspect was gone.

"Whatever happened is over. I want some action." Artemis said while overlooking the scene.

"But maybe you need to talk…about Conner and Megan, or whatever." Zatanna offered. Artemis ignored her and drove off. She really wasn't in the mood for talking, "What I need is something to beat up. And I think I just found the target of my ire."

The girls had begun thwarting whatever crimes they came upon. Assaults, robberies, and anything else they saw that broke the law called them to action. Artemis and Zatanna soon found themselves in a park where a young woman was being swarmed by four thugs. She kept crying out for help but the thugs kept inching closer.

"Go ahead and scream. No one can help you." A thug said as he made a grab for her. He stopped when he suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see a green gloved fist connect with and break his jaw.

"Hello, my name is no one." Artemis said as she started to wail on the other thugs. Zatanna made sure the young woman was safe and watched as her friend went to work. Artemis was easily dismantling the thugs. Two of them tried to rush her, but she easily countered by delivering a spinning elbow to one and a flying knee to the other. The fourth guy was about to try and grab her from behind when a chilling axel kick was delivered to the crown of his head, only it wasn't delivered by Artemis.

"Itachi?! What are you doing here? I thought you'd be diving right into the inferno by now." Artemis said to her friend.

Itachi ignored and summoned wire to tie the thugs together. Both Artemis and Zatanna felt to cold shoulder he was giving them, "Geez, first you disappear off of the face of the Earth for three weeks and now when we actually do see you, you blow us off." Artemis complained as she got in his face.

Zatanna got in between them before Artemis's mouth bit off more than she could chew, "What she means is that we missed you. We don't want you to distance yourself from us. We're all your friends."

"…thank you for taking out a lot of these criminals. With all of the chaos, it's been a hassle trying to rein them all in." Itachi said trying to appease to them. It worked as Artemis's frown instantly turned into a smug smirk. As they started to head back, a quick thought had crossed Zatanna's mind, "I know this is completely off subject, but why aren't you in your Crow gear Itachi? "

Artemis stopped when she heard her friend's question. She took a good look and indeed noticed that Itachi had none of his normal gear on. He didn't even have his mask to hide his identity. Something about it was off-putting to her, "Yeah, why aren't you in your gear? I guess I was too busy being mad earlier to notice, but it is weird. You're dressed like your old Anbu Black Ops gear from your time in the Leaf. Feeling nostalgic or something?"

"That doesn't matter right now. The city does," Itachi ended the conversation with that. Artemis wasn't done though and was about to press him further on it, but Zatanna gestured against doing it. Itachi seemed off to her and she figured that the damage to the city must have put him on edge. Understanding this, Artemis chose to go towards a different avenue.

"How come you didn't want to go to the dance party? You didn't even respond." Artemis asked while poking a finger at his chest for emphasis. Itachi's response was to point his head upwards to where the smoke of both explosions was at. They could see that Wrath was still spelled in the sky.

"I've never been the party type. Plus, with all of this chaos happening I wouldn't have gone even if I was." He replied coldly.

"You just never speak to us anymore. It was the League that wanted you out, not us." She said. Itachi gave her a knowing look to let her know that he didn't blame her. After the thugs were tied up, Itachi started to head off when Zatanna spoke, "Do you wanna join us? Artemis could definitely use the company."

Artemis defiantly tried to reject that notion, but the idea of hanging out with Itachi sounded a lot more appealing than sulking over Conner and M'gann. She also had another completely platonic thought, _'The best way to get over a rejected crush is with an even better looking rebound.'_

Zatanna saw the look she had and couldn't help but laugh at how silly she could be. Itachi shook his head before heading off, with the girl following suite.

' _This may not have been my original plan, but perhaps this can actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise by the end of the night.'_ He thought to himself. He used his peripheral vision to eye a tree from the distance, _'We're being followed.'_

* * *

"You were pretty brutal to those criminals back there. That's not your style. There were much more subtle ways to incapacitate them. Mind telling me what's up." Itachi asked as they were about to cross the street.

"They had it coming. No harm done." She replied.

They all left and went back to where the girls had parked their bikes. Just before they got too close though Itachi pulled them back as the bikes exploded. They looked to see a pale man with long black hair walking through the fire. He had no shirt, a grey trench coat, and was wielding a dangerous looking sword in his hand.

"No, indeed. Harm is not done. Much harm left to do." He ominously said while eying the heroes. Itachi figured that this was the man who was following them that he had sensed earlier.

"We need to retreat, now." Itachi ordered as he got up. Artemis disagreed with him as she prepped an arrow. Harm didn't look scared at all as he used his sword to cut down the attack from Artemis.

"Taeh taht nopaew's latem!" Zatanna tried to melt Harm's sword, but magic had no effect on it. He merely laughed and taunted them, "You must do better or suffer Harm."

"We get it! Your name is Harm." Artemis said as she prepared to shoot more arrows at Harm. Harm eyed the three of them in amusement, "Their ridiculous garb and rudimentary skills indicate instruction from Green Arrow and Zatara. The fire is his eyes indicate a burning desire to see the world wither into ashes. Harm will study all of them to learn methods for killing their mentors."

"Oh, you did not just threaten my dad. Etativel drows ot em!" Zatanna ordered Harm's sword to go to her. He grinned at her feeble attack, "It wants Harm's sword? Very well."

Harm swiftly threw the sword at Zatanna who barely managed to dodge it. Itachi used this as an opportunity to strike as he weaved the hand signs for the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Harm saw through the attack and caught the shuriken that were hidden inside of it. He threw them back at Artemis as a result. Itachi moved quickly to get her to safety before any fatal harm could happen to her.

Once Zatanna joined them, Itachi got ready to cut loose. It was at that moment that he and Zatanna noticed a pale looking girl motioning for them to follow her into an alley. Zatanna surveyed how the battle was going and decided that Itachi was right to suggest a retreat in the beginning.

"On second thought, you were right Itachi." Zatanna admitted quickly. Artemis followed suite, "Okay, fine. To regroup."

"Fire Style! Giant Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi unleashed a huge ball of fire at harm as cover for their escape. Zatanna added to that by using one of her spells, "erif nrub, nordluac elbbub!"

The fire from Itachi's attack intensified tenfold and completely overtook Harm as the heroes escaped. It still amazed Artemis just how smoothly Zatanna and Itachi worked together despite the fact that they didn't do it very often. They all soon noticed the little girl around the corner motioning for them to keep following her. Artemis wondered she that was, but Itachi didn't really see why it mattered.

"We could always go back there." He offered. Artemis quickly decided that strange little pale girl was the way to go. They rounded the corner to see that it was a dead end, but Itachi saw that the girl was on the roof somehow. It perplexed him _, 'How did she get up there?'_

The girl dropped a nearby ladder so that they could join them on the rood. Artemis and Zatanna happily climbed up, but Itachi had doubts to the identity of the girl. As the others climbed, Itachi leapt up to the rooftop to join the others. As they met up, Zatanna began to express her gratitude for her saving them.

"Thanks for the assist, but who are you?" She asked.

"Secret." The girl replied. Artemis wasn't accepting that as an answer, "That won't cut it. We need answers. Do you know Harm? Does he have any weaknesses?"

"Secret." She answered again. Itachi found her answer strange and was about to comment about it when the girl pointed behind them. Harm had caught up to them and was now on the rooftop, "At least they make the hunt interesting."

"Stay back. I'll take him." Itachi said as he got ready to fight. Artemis had other ideas as she shot an arrow at a nearby water tower, "We're a team, remember? We do this together."

The water started to pour out. Itachi used the Water Prison Jutsu to trap Harm in a sphere of water while Zatanna used her spell to freeze the spell and trap him inside. It didn't hold him long because he used his sword to free himself from the prison. As the three heroes were running they noticed that the little girl was now several rooftops away. Itachi took hold of both of them.

"Hold on!" He warned as he leapt off the roof with Harm in hot pursuit of them. When they landed safely Itachi let them go and shot another Fireball Jutsu at Harm. Harm threw a dagger that went through the fireball without melting. Artemis tried to shoot the dagger down, but it sliced right through her bow. Itachi and Zatanna had to hold him off as Artemis went to restring her bow.

Itachi summoned a kunai to block a swipe Harm made at Zatanna. Artemis rushed in and tried to take advantage, but Harm freed his blade be kicking Itachi back and used it to cut her bow to pieces and neutralize her attack. Itachi came back with Harm's dagger and drove it down to lower Harm's guard as Artemis drew a crossbow that was aimed right at Harm's throat. It was a stalemate.

"Why don't we all try fighting without all of the toys?" Artemis suggested.

"It tries to bait Harm, leave Harm weak. But Harm has no weakness." Harm dropped his sword and took off his trench coat. He, Artemis and Itachi all got into fighting stances to prepare for some hand-to-hand combat.

Artemis rushed first with a flurry of attacks. Harm dodge every one of her strikes, but Itachi landed his first strike with a front kick to Harm's chest that sent him reeling. Artemis rebounded and went for a flying elbow strike, but got kneed in her stomach and sent back to the ground. Itachi went for a spinning roundhouse left head kick that Harm blocked. Harm tried to counter with a double hook combination, but Itachi proved too fast and connected with a shovel uppercut right to Harm's jaw.

Zatanna watched as the three continued to fight from a distance since fistfights weren't her strong suit. She went for Harm's sword since he was distracted with her partners. Harm may have been taking damage from Itachi, but he still had time to taunt both of his opponents.

"So unfocused. The Its struggle with their inner demons. One fights itself in a losing battle. The other may strike me, but Its true opponent remains unharmed. Harm doesn't battle his demons…Harm embraces them."

"Would Harm please shut up?!" Artemis replied as she kept missing strikes. Itachi kicked at Harm's knees which allowed Artemis to finally land a blow via forearm shiver.

Zatanna kept trying to pull Harm's sword out of the ground. The sword shocked her backwards with its unique magic. Artemis saw this and got distracted just enough for Harm to hit her with a right cross that sent her right next to Zatanna. Itachi leapt backwards to check on his friends which got him mocked by Harm again.

"And It cares about others. Another weakness. You will never beat your true enemy until you let go of everyone else." Harm mocked. Harm put his trench coat back on as he eyed his prey, "The sword rejected It's impure heart. It has not made the sacrifices Harm has to become pure."

Itachi was about to get back into the fight except Zatanna had pointed out the little girl to his attention. She was on a nearby rooftop and signaling for them to follow her again. Zatanna figured that since Secret hasn't let them down before that there is no reason to doubt her now.

Artemis and Itachi both threw smoke bombs to mask their retreat. When the smoke had cleared, Harm saw that they were all gone. But he knew exactly where they were being led to, "The Its think to escape Harm, but draw near to home. Such considerate Its."

The heroes had been running all night long. It certainly wasn't the distraction Artemis was thinking of when she agreed to go on this trip. They soon found themselves across the street from a magic store.

"She's gone again. Now what? This is the end of the line. We can't go back the way we came because he's heading here as we speak." Zatanna said while trying to figure out their next move. Itachi calmed her down before she panicked even further, "Calm down. We'll just hide out in that magic store."

Itachi stopped when he saw Harm shoot a magical bolt of lightning from his sword. He pushed the girls out of the way just as the attack landed. Harm had caught up to them and didn't look happy at all.

"This can be no coincidence. They alight on Harm's very roof. How did they know? Tell Harm, now!" The madman ordered.

"Wait, this is your place?" Artemis figured. Itachi was wondering why that little girl would bring them here. He figured that she must have done it for a specific reason.

Harm was tired of playing with them and got serious with more magic from his sword. Itachi evaded the attack, but Artemis and Zatanna took the full brunt of Harm's attack and were incapacitated. Itachi landed on the rooftop of the magic store from across the street and saw Harm take Artemis and Zatanna captive. He also saw Secret with them whom had a defeated look on her face.

' _I have to stop him.'_ Itachi thought as he got ready to go back into battle. He wondered why Harm didn't try to pursue him further, but surmised that it must have been because Itachi was the only one of the three heroes to cause him any real damage _, 'Defeating him might require me to use more drastic measures. I guess it can't be helped.'_

* * *

Artemis found herself bound to a chair in a creepy room. She had a major headache and felt weak from the earlier fighting. She felt the presence of someone else in the room and began to panic.

"Calm down, it's me Artemis." Itachi whispered from the shadows. Artemis turned to see her friend emerge from a dark corner in the room. She was about to ask him where he went when he signaled for her to be silent. Itachi went back into hiding just as Harm walked in. A television nearby lit up and showed that Zatanna was also bound to a chair. She had a crossbow aimed directly at her.

"It deigns to awaken. It will tell Harm Its secrets, or Its partner will pay the price. How did It know of Harm's home?" He asked in a sinister tone.

"Ask you partner. She lured us here." Artemis spat out.

"Harm has no partner. Harm is pure and works alone." Harm answered with a genuine curiosity as to why she thought he had a partner. From the television out of Harm's vision, Artemis saw that Itachi had made it to Zatanna. Since Harm was in the room, Itachi figured that meant that it would be easy to free Zatanna. He removed her duct tape so that she could speak freely. She saw that Secret was behind him and acted fast.

"Sepor, emoc esool," The ropes that were binding her came loose and she immediately alerted Itachi to the girl standing behind him. He turned and faced her, but not in the same defensive tone that Zatanna had. Itachi addressed her in a very gentle one which definitely caught Zatanna by surprise.

"Please help me to understand you. I don't believe that you lured us into a trap. Harm doesn't seem like the teamwork kind of guy. What do you truly mean to accomplish?" He asked.

"Secret." She responded like always. Zatanna was getting tired of that answer. Itachi halted her and pointed to where they were at. The room didn't look like it belonged to an insane murderer. In fact, it looked like it was the room of a normal little girl. They both saw a picture frame that had both the girl and Harm in it. They looked to be pretty happy actually.

"This is your house, isn't it? We're in your room." Itachi said while putting the pieces to this puzzle together. Zatanna was a lot more irritated than he was though, "You live with this nut job?"

"Secret." The girl replied. That answer was really getting on Zatanna's nerves. Itachi was more curious as to why that was her only answer. He figured that she must have been trying to tell them something by using that word.

Artemis was still tied to her chair. She was glad to see that Itachi had freed her friend, but didn't like seeing that hooded girl right next to them. Harm was pacing back and forth in the room.

"It seems honestly convinced that Harm had help. Perhaps the other It…no!" Harm had finally noticed that Itachi had freed Zatanna. He saw them pick up the crossbow in the room and quickly rushed out. When he made it to the other room he wasted no time in unsheathing his sword and slashing at the young heroes. But right when he struck both of them, they blew up and knocked his back into the wall. Itachi had set up a couple of clones to be decoys while he and Zatanna freed Artemis.

Zatanna took them running as a moment to bring back an old topic, "Itachi, something seems off about you. You could have easily taken this guy down by now. I saw how you were fighting him on the roof and you were definitely pulling your punches. What gives?"

Artemis noticed how different her friend was acting too, "Yeah, why haven't you used your Tsukuyomi or whatever the heck its call to put him in a genjutsu. In fact, I haven't seen you turn on your Sharingan once and some black fire to melt that sword down would be pretty useful by now. What's going on? Please, let us in."

Itachi stopped at the top of the stairs and was about to answer them when they all noticed that Secret was at the bottom staring at them. Artemis got her crossbow out and wasted no time in threatening the girl. Zatanna and Itachi got in front of her to stop much to the archer's confusion.

Harm recovered from Itachi's decoy attack and fired lightning blasts at the heroes from behind. Itachi was able to warn them in enough time to avoid the blast so that they could further evade him. Harm furiously chased after them until he saw them in the kitchen. Just before they left the room, Artemis fired an arrow from her crossbow. Harm easily caught it, but started to hear a sizzling sound come from it. He noticed a few things right after that. He saw that a paper-bomb was wrapped around the arrow, the oven was on and open, and there were paper-bombs similar to the one around Artemis's arrow all over the kitchen. He grunted as he realized the trap they set for him before the entire first floor of Harm's home blew up.

The heroes escaped from the basement and made it outside. There they saw a makeshift grave that was dug out for someone. Itachi walked up to it and read what was carved into the faux headstone, "Greta Hayes, beloved sister."

Then the spirit of the grave emerged from the ground and revealed that it was the little girl who had been leading them here this entire night. The girls backed away from fear, but Itachi walked closer as he finally grasped the final piece to this story.

"This…is your grave. This is your secret. This is you in here." Itachi asked her as she looked down in confirmation. Artemis couldn't believe that they were actually in contact with a real ghost.

Though Itachi had a pretty good idea, he still wanted to hear it from Secret. He wanted to know how she died, "How…how did it happen?"

She summoned forth a dagger. Itachi figured that it was the weapon used to end her life. He quickly realized that he had seen the weapon before. It was way back on the roof when they all fought against Harm. He found himself getting angrier and angrier, _'He had this dagger on him. That means that…he…he murdered his on sister. Who could do that?!'_

Just as Itachi thought that, Harm reappeared. Suddenly, Artemis and Zatanna noticed a seismic shift in their friend. Harm came out with a look of vengeance on his face. He accused them of defiling his holy place. Artemis came back at him by saying that there was nothing holy in him murdering his own sister. Harm smirked at them which sent Itachi over the edge.

"You're…proud of this tragedy. You dare to have the gall to even write beloved on her grave." Itachi accused as the air around him began to change. Artemis and Zatanna were really getting worried.

"Not gall, truth. She was the only thing Harm ever loved. That's why she had to die. Harm's heart had to be pure. Greta had to be cut out, excised like an infection." He said smugly. That had done it for Itachi.

Zatanna and Artemis saw something that they swore they'd never forget. Itachi had activated his Sharingan. He even turned it to his Mangekyo Sharingan form. He then summoned the skeletal ribcage of his Susanoo. It was there that they noticed two differences. The first was that the feeling of the Susanoo was off. It usually felt warm and brought a feeling a protection with it. This time it felt cold and brought only dread and rage with it. The other difference was that it wasn't its usual color. For some reason, instead of being red like usual, this time Itachi's Susanoo was black.

"Older siblings are supposed to protect their younger kin, not kill them. You're just like Itachi; no…you're worse than him. You're just like that piece of trash…Madara Uchiha. Killing your sibling for power makes you the worst type of trash there is." He declared as the air grew thick around him.

Artemis was confused to what her friend was even talking about. She was even beginning to be afraid of him. Zatanna was about to call a spell when Greta's ghost emerged. As it would turn out, Harm is still haunted by her. He even feels regret about killing her. Seeing her again only confirmed that, which was bad for Harm since the sword he held required it's user to either be pure good or pure evil. Having regrets about murdering your own sister isn't pure evil. The heroes watched as Greta reached in Harm's chest and stole the magic that allowed him to wield the Sword of Beowulf. He lost the ability to wield it as the blade wrenched itself from his grip and sealed itself away.

Itachi saw this and took hold of Harm with his Susanoo. Harm struggled to get free, but it was futile; Itachi had him locked. The Susanoo then began to squeeze harm slowly as the madman screeched in pain from his bones being broken. The Uchiha then used the special ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan as a weird flesh-like substance started to emerge from the ground. It inched its way to Harm until it reached his face and then clamped down like tentacles of an octopus. It started to harden until it was harder than any substance that Zatanna or Artemis had ever seen before.

"W-What are you doing?" Artemis asked as she saw Harm start to thrash about on fear. Itachi ignored her question as he addressed the subject of his ire, "What was that you said earlier about my true enemy being unharmed? Let's fix that."

The substance then began to squeeze and compress Harm's head. The girls all watched in horror as Harm's face was being mutilated by Itachi. Harm's eyeballs started to pop out of socket and the trauma caused the madman to bite his own tongue off in a bloody and grotesque manner. Harm's brain was starting to show as his skull was cracked open. His head began squirting blood everywhere as his bones were reduced to dust. When Itachi was done, Harm was dead. His face looked horribly maimed.

He dropped the body, deactivated his Susanoo, and leapt unto the fence around the house. He stared out at the magic store and shook his head, "Secret...I get it. That was the last thing you ever saw before he murdered you. Greta, your justice has been served. Your grave was the last thing he saw before I killed him."

Artemis and Zatanna looked absolutely terrified. They had never seen someone murdered in such a vivid and graphic manner. There was a pool of blood from where the body was lying on the ground before them. Artemis moved past her fear just as the Uchiha was about to leave.

"What the hell?! We don't murder people! He lost his power and was defenseless. How could you do that Itachi?" She demanded through hot tears. Artemis didn't know if she was more afraid or furious. The Uchiha turned to address them and they noticed the full scope of his appearance.

"Y-Your eyes. Why are they different?" Artemis asked fearfully. The sclera in his eyes was pitch black and the design of his Mangekyo Sharingan was different. Artemis knew she had seen that design before. She'd seen it when Itachi showed them his past, "Are those…your father's eyes?"

The Uchiha nodded in confirmation. The girls were really confused as to what was going on. Zatanna was the first to boldly speak what she was thinking, "You're not Itachi. He never would do something like this. So who are you?!"

The Uchiha pointed upwards at the smoke in the sky. Artemis and Zatanna both looked and gasped at what he was implying. Artemis's legs began to shake, "You mean to tell me…that…y-you're…"

"I am the clone of Itachi Uchiha. The bringer of justice and true heir to the Uchiha name. You can call me Wrath." He answered as he looked down at the shocked faces of the heroes. They couldn't believe or understand what was happening. The person responsible for the deaths of thousands of people was the clone of their friend. They both had so many questions.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" Zatanna asked. Wrath shook his head at them, "I was created for war, but what I truly seek is justice."

"What justice is there in murdering over 2,000 innocent people?! What about Harm? He may have been a scumbag, but he didn't deserve to have his head be crushed to death! You're a monster!" She proclaimed.

"I may be a monster, but you and the rest of you so-called heroes are the true evil here. And if I were you, I'd look into those 2,000 "innocent" people. There's no such thing as innocent people. I will tear down the world as you know it and bring true justice for those oppressed by you." Wrath declared.

"You're insane. The League will take you down and the organization that created you." Artemis replied. Wrath laughed at her. It creeped her and Zatanna out because Wrath sounded just like Itachi.

"You keep thinking that. Go ask the now freed captives of the Dollmaker if they think I'm insane. You know, the only thing that I will regret about killing you all is that I can only do it once." He said as he leered at them. Police sirens could be heard coming, "Looks like our time together is coming to an end. The night was fun Artemis. I hope that whatever ails you subsides soon because you will need to be at your best to fight me. Harm was right about one thing; you can't fight yourself and fight me. It will end in your death."

"Why haven't you tried to kill us yet? Now would be the best opportunity since we're all alone. No one would know about it." Zatanna asked. She wanted to stall for time for the police to arrive. She knew they'd be on high alert since yet another explosion had just transpired in Gotham.

"The answer is simple; I want the whole world to know about when I kill all of you. So for now, your lives are safe. I just wanted to get a firsthand observation of you all tonight. That's why I tagged along with you rather than kill you on the spot. I wanted to know you as the world does…as Itachi does. You're exactly who I thought you were. Goodbye for now. I have more important matters to attend to than you all," Wrath then turned to Secret who was weeping over her dead brother, "Greta, I'm sorry about what happened to you. I wish you had a normal life." Wrath said sadly to the surprise of the girls. He was about to leave when Zatanna asked him one last question.

"Who was the true enemy of yours that Harm mention earlier?" She asked. Wrath's expression turned into a sinister look of hatred, "Don't ask questions that you already know the answer to. Be sure to tell Itachi that I'll be seeing him soon and when I do, I'll take everything away from him."

With that, Wrath disappeared into the night. Both Zatanna and Artemis fell to their knees in relief. They didn't realize it, but they had been holding their breaths the entire time. Artemis thought back to when she saw Itachi's memories and cringed. Zatanna could feel her hands shaking.

"I don't understand any of this. How is there a clone of Itachi? We have to tell the League." She said in between shaky breaths. She looked at Harm's corpse and nearly puked.

"I've seen that look of rage and hatred only once before. It was in Itachi's younger brother Sasuke when they fought in that hallway. The look didn't scare me then…but it does now." Artemis said while trying to get a grip on her nerves.

"Wrath…just being around him, the real him…is so intimidating. I could feel such raw, untamed power inside of him. He was truly terrifying. The world is in trouble, isn't it?" The magician asked.

"Yeah, if what happened tonight is any indicator as to what we're dealing with; the Earth is in big trouble." She answered as she eyed Harm's blood start to seep onto his sister's grave. Even Secret trembled in fear of Wrath. Though that could be from her seeing her brother get murdered in front of her. Selfishly, all Artemis could think about was her friend, _'Itachi, now more than anything, we need you with us. Please come back because you might be the only person who can stop Wrath.'_

* * *

The real Itachi was in the home of the now deceased Barton Mathis. Seeing Batman's batmobile there drew him in. The police were gone. They had been called away to another explosion that had occurred in Gotham. Itachi knew he had to find and deal with Wrath fast before he killed any more people.

The Dark Knight turned to acknowledge Itachi as he walked in the house, "I see you still have time for common break-ins Crow."

"I do when they bring you out of the darkness. What's so special about here?" Itachi asked. As he observed the house, he could tell that whoever died in here was murdered by someone in a rage fueled frenzy.

"This is the house of the Dollmaker. He was the man murdered here." Batman said as he led Itachi downstairs. Itachi heard about the type of man the Dollmaker was, but all of the rumors were miniscule compared to the horror that he saw down here. There were corpses of children, chains, and a cell down here.

"This man…was a monster." Crow said as the smell of blood and death filled his nose. Batman started to scan the area. Itachi was curious as to why, "With everything going on in this city, why are you spending so much effort on this."

"Because I have reason to believe that this man was murdered by the man we're both looking for; Wrath." Batman answered. He started wiping the cells for fingerprints and submitting blood samples for Alfred to scan from the Batcave. He hoped that Wrath may have stabbed himself in the frenzy.

"Why would Wrath have been here? The psychopath kills 2,000 people just to clear enough time to kill a pedophile and murderer?" Itachi asked.

"You have to ask the children he held captive that. They don't view him as a psychopath at all. According to the counselor that interviewed them when the police arrived, they view him as their savior." Batman replied. He grunted as nothing was found.

"They really said that?" Itachi asked. Batman nodded at him as they headed back up the stairs. He was just as confused by all of this as Itachi was. Batman pointed Itachi towards the wall, "According to my investigation scanner, Barton was pinned to this wall. The initial reports suggest that he was stabbed over one hundred times. Why I doubt this was Wrath is because his body suggests that he was stabbed by multiple people wielding different types of blades."

"As much as he deserved a world of pain, he didn't deserve to die. We have to stop whoever is behind this. What I don't get is why these children are so certain that Wrath was the one who did this." Crow said after eying the holes in the wall.

"I doubted it as well. The police told me that they asked the children what happened here. Their answer confused me at first, but when the name Wrath appeared in the sky, it casted out any doubts in my mind that Wrath was here. I just don't know if he was here before or after the explosions." Batman revealed.

Itachi didn't want to believe any of this, but his life has taught him that anything is possible. They walked out of the house and headed towards Batman's car, "What did the children say?"

Batman had a solemn look on his face before answering, "They said that Wrath came for the Dollmaker." Just as Batman said that a large fireball was shot at the two vigilantes. They both recovered quickly and were shocked to see who had fired that fireball. It was a carbon copy of Itachi. He was in Itachi's old Anbu Black Ops gear. The only thing the clone was missing was Itachi's leaf headband. Itachi couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Who…are you?" He asked with trepidation. Wrath smiled at Itachi's confusion, "Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. Isn't it obvious who I am? I'm you. My name is Wrath and the Dollmaker isn't the only thing I came for murderer."

"You call Itachi a murderer after what you've done to this city?! You have some nerve. What do you want?" Batman demanded.

"I want…you dead Itachi! You and everyone else like you," The vigilantes noticed that Wrath's smile turn into a look of pure rage. Itachi hadn't seen that look since he fought his brother back in that hallway. He saw that Wrath had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and unsheathed his sword. He was shocked to see that it was the same as his father's, "Heroes and villains alike. You all infect the world with your impure wickedness. Those 2,000 people did too by allowing you all to roam unchecked. And Dollmaker…you saw what type of monster he was. I did the world a great service by killing him. I'll do the world another great service when I kill you too Itachi, or is it Crow now. You never know with all of your lies; it's what you're best at. You see, that's why this has to happen. You're all a disease to life…and I'm the cure!"

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter! I had a blast writing this one especially with the mixed review of last chapter. I love constructive criticism because it's just a way of letting me know that I can do better and hope that this chapter is better received. Now that Wrath has revealed himself to members of the Team, who knows what will happen next (except for me of course.) We finally get the confrontation between Itachi and Wrath. I want to thank everyone who viewed last chapter whether you liked it or not, I always appreciate it. Thanks for all of the faves, follows, reviews, and PMs. Let me know what you thought of this chapter and have a great one! Until next time guys and gals!


	27. The Will to Act

Wrath wasted no time in beginning his onslaught by unleashing another Fireball Jutsu at the pair of vigilantes. Itachi leaped out of the way while Batman used his grapple gun to pull himself away at the last second. When Itachi landed he was met by his Wrath, whom had a kunai ready to stab him. Itachi quickly summoned a kunai of his own to counter which led to a stalemate of the two Sharingan wielders.

"I don't understand. How do you even exist?" Itachi asked as the pair continued to clash. Wrath kneed Itachi in his gut and doubled him over. Wrath was about to take advantage and stab through the nape of Itachi's neck when a grapple hook wrapped itself around his wrist and prevented the blow before it came. Wrath noticed that Batman had joined the battle.

"Wait your turn, Bat. I have a Crow kill." Wrath said as he attempted to cut himself loose. The kunai broke against Batman's reinforced grapple line, "Not today, murderer. You answer for your crimes against Gotham."

Batman then activated the shock function of his grapple gun and electrocuted Wrath. Itachi recovered from Wrath's knee and delivered a powerful thrust kick that sent Wrath flying through a nearby building. Batman joined Itachi as the pair looked on to see if Wrath was defeated. They got their answer in when Wrath emerged from the rubble with little to no damage done to him. He had a look of amusement on his face.

"The nerve you have Batman. You dare call me a murderer?! And what about you? The bodies I put down tonight are nothing compared to the body count you have you hypocrite." Wrath said as he dusted himself off.

"I've never taken a life. I don't kill. I can't say the same for you though." Batman retorted as he pointed to the still burning Gotham Cathedral.

"You really think you've never killed before. You're crazier than I thought. All of the people you've murdered…every time you let scum like Joker live. You could have stopped that monster years ago, but instead you just kept him around so he can continue killing people. Their deaths are just as much on you as it is on him." Wrath declared through a look of rage now.

"I'm not responsible for that serial killer's actions. I tried to save his victims." Batman said while defending himself.

"Tell that to Harvey Dent and his fiancé, whom you let get blown to hell and caused him to lose all of his sanity. Now he is just as much a murderer as Joker is. And like Joker, all of his victims are all on you too. I wonder if he thinks you tried to save him." Wrath said which struck a nerve with Bruce Wayne more that Batman. Harvey was Bruce's friend and he lives with knowing that Two-Face was born all because of him.

Batman had heard enough and sprinted towards Wrath. Wrath smiled and met the Dark Knight, or he would have if Itachi hadn't interfered and threw shuriken at Wrath to halt him movements. Wrath had to use a kunai to deflect all of the projectiles, which left him open for an attack by Batman and his electro-gauntlets. Batman threw a combination after combination at the clone, but landed nothing but air until finally Wrath caught one of the gauntlets with his bare hand. He laughed as the smell of burning flesh started to fill the air.

"If this is the best you got, it's no wonder your mother and father died in that alleyway. You lack the conviction to do what is needed. At the end of the day, you're still that same pathetic little boy that's crying and begging for his mother to wake up." Wrath said before kicking Batman in the ribs and knocking him to the side. He stood there still as his hand continued to sizzle.

"This pain is nothing compared to what you will feel Itachi. You're going to pay for what you did." Wrath said as steam started to emit from his hand. Itachi used Wrath's damaged hand as an opportunity to strike since the clone wouldn't be able to weave hand signs, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

A large fireball was shot at Wrath. He shook his head before weaving the same hand signs as Itachi and unleashing a Fireball Jutsu to counter Itachi's. To Itachi's surprise, Wrath's hand had healed and was fully functional. The two blasts collided and ended with a great explosion. The two Uchiha's emerged from the smoke, both glaring at each other with great intensity. After what seemed like a lifetime of silence, it was Itachi whom spoke first.

"You said I was going to pay for what I did…what did you mean by that?" Itachi asked. Wrath continued his glare as he fought back tears from the painful memories, "You murdered mother and father. Our entire clan. You even ruined our brother's life…for what?! A lie!"

"Mother, father…our brother? They aren't your family. You're just some carbon copy; a cheap knockoff of me." Itachi replied coldly. Wrath smirked at that.

"Sticks and stones. Tell me…was the village really worth murdering all of our family? Was that lie you told worth it in the end? The Uchiha died because you got sold on false goods." Wrath asked as he was genuinely curious to his answer.

Itachi stood there silent. Thinking back on that night wasn't something he did often. Itachi could tell that Wrath was getting as worked up about it as he was by the hurt tone in his voice when he asked his next question, "Do you even still think about them anymore, or have you completely forsaken our clan?"

"…I have thought about them every day of my life since that night. Being my clone, you should know that." Itachi replied as Wrath had heard enough and charged forward with a vengeance. In a symphony in sparks and rage, the two Uchiha fought. Each one landing hit and counter-hit, with neither one really gaining an advantage over the other. After a while, Itachi started to gain some leeway when he landed a strong cross to Wrath's chest. The attack stunned the clone whom countered by swiping Itachi's arms down and connecting with a headbutt. Itachi back flipped away to get distance. When Wrath tried to follow he fell into Itachi's trap. He had placed a paper bomb when he back flipped away and it was triggered when Wrath got close to it. The blast sent Wrath hurdling to the street.

Itachi looked on from his spot on top of the roof as Wrath slowly got up with a smile on his face. It looked to Itachi like his clone was enjoying himself. Wrath stood up straight to reveal that he had barely taken any damage from this fight. He also had his Mangekyo Sharingan active.

"I think I understand why you avoid answering my questions about our family. It's because in your heart of hearts you know that you were wrong to slaughter our clan. Admit it; you made the wrong choice." Wrath taunted.

"There was no choice to make. It was either have the Uchiha Clan face extinction or do the unthinkable, save their reputation, and keep Sasuke alive. If you are truly my clone and love Sasuke like how I do, you would have made the same choice as I did. There was nothing easy about torturing my little brother for his entire life, but it had to be done for the good of the world." Itachi countered.

"Personally speaking, I would cut off Danzo's head and set the village on fire before murdering my own parents. But whatever helps you sleep at night." Wrath countered. He ducked when whizzing was heard behind him. Batman had recovered and joined the fight. Wrath barely paid him any mind and easy dispatched him when he activated one of the abilities of his eyes, "Hedoro!"

A flesh like material emerged from the ground in the form of senbon that stabbed into Batman through all of the weak points in his Kevlar laced suit. He laid on the ground in pain as Wrath walked up to him. He eyed the down vigilante with a look of coldness as he eyed the bat-symbol on the vigilante's chest.

"You know, my eyes let me see through a lot. Strings, lies, denial…I see it all. I can even see all of the areas of your suit, even the ones that contain the least amount of armor. For a big guy like you to move as fast as you can, you had to lessen the density of the plates surrounding your joints for complete mobility. I bet most people shoot at your chest at first sight even though it's where your armor is the strongest. It's a great misdirection and deception ploy, but you can't fool my eyes." Wrath said as he held his hand out.

"Katamarimasu," The flesh like senbon in his hand hardened until it looked like black, refined metal. Wrath glared at the bleeding vigilante as he gripped the now hardened senbon, "This is the second ability of my Mangekyo Sharingan. It allows me to harden my Hedoro and increase the power of its attacks. This senbon, for example, is now harder than any metal known to this planet, even Promethium. I bet with all of that armor around your chest, you've never taken a fatal wound there. Let's change that." Wrath said as he got ready to stab Batman.

"I don't think so. Fire Style! Giant Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi said as he floated directly behind Wrath and was in perfect position to land a direct attack. Wrath summoned a wall using his Hedoro to take the impact of the blast. When the smoke settled, Wrath stood perfectly unharmed. Itachi couldn't believe it, _'He didn't even harden it this time and it was still durable enough to protect him against my blast. That is a powerful jutsu that he wields.'_

As Itachi stayed airborne, the makeshift wall that Wrath created using his Hedoro started shooting out senbon at an astounding speed. Itachi had no choice but to brace himself as the senbon shredded into him and knocked him out of the air. Wrath turned his attention back to Batman.

"Now, where were we?" Wrath asked. Batman answered by trying to drive a batarang into Wrath's clavicle. Wrath caught him and broke Batman's wrist to wench the batarang out of his hand. Wrath then drove his armored senbon straight for Batman's chest. Bruce tried to deflect it with his free hand, but the sheer force that Wrath had behind the thrust caused the senbon to pierce right through Bruce's hand and straight into his chest; even through his Kevlar armor.

Bruce's eyes went wide as he started to cough up blood. Wrath gave him a look of sympathy as he looked down at the bleeding vigilante, "All of these years fighting for this city, only to end up bleeding on the floor like your parents. Don't worry; I made sure to avoid all of the vital spots. Though, you could still perish from too much blood loss if you move around too much. This fight is now between me and Itachi."

Wrath left the bleeding Batman to go confront Itachi who had recovered from Wrath's counter attack. Wrath smiled at all of the cuts Itachi endured from it.

"The reason my defense is so strong is because Hedoro is what the muscle fibers and flesh of our Susanoo are made of. It's why the Susanoo is such an impenetrable defense. My Mangekyo Sharingan allows me to harness it at its most basic form and control it to my will. The Katamarimasu lets me harden it to a level even beyond the reach of the Susanoo. It was this jutsu combination that allowed our father to go head-to-head with the Fourth Hokage back in their heyday." Wrath revealed.

"I've never seen father's Mangekyo Sharingan ability before." Itachi said now knowing the scope of what he was dealing with. He knew his father was insanely gifted, but not to this extent. It made him revere his father even more knowing that the man held such power and yet rarely even used it.

"Father could have killed you the night of the massacre with this Jutsu. It wouldn't have even been difficult for him, but instead he chose to lay down his sword and die by your hand. He forsook the will of the Uchiha and chose love instead. In the end, he believed in you even when you stopped believing in him." Wrath said sadly.

"No, he believed in Sasuke." Itachi corrected sadly. The night still haunts him, "Even in death, father believed that Sasuke was the future of our clan. Sasuke can correct a history of wrongs done by the Uchiha."

"You see, that's why I hate you. Since when did being a victim of oppression and wanting freedom make someone wrong? Because we lost fights for our independence, we were ostracized for it. Because we chose not to accept that cruel fate of servitude and defeat, we were segregated. And because we chose to fight for our freedom against a corrupt village, we were all murdered for it. I have your memories, Itachi. They have tortured me ever since I could first form a thought. The Uchiha are yet another example of how corrupt the system of the world is and why it needs to be corrected." Wrath said in a dark tone.

"Murdering innocent people isn't the way to achieve that." Itachi said as the grief of Gotham was still felt by him. Wrath sneered at Itachi for that comment, "Coming from the guy who slaughtered his family in the name of that same corrupt system, you have no right to tell me how I should correct it when you're part of the problem I even have with that system." Wrath retorted angrily.

"I know…it's why I know that the path that you are on now is wrong. It's why I have to stop you before any more people die senselessly. Hasn't there been enough death already?" Itachi asked trying to appease to his clone's humanity.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask mother and father that you hypocrite. The only way to change the world is by eradicating all of the cancer that infects it. This world isn't so different from ours. They, too, oppress those who can't fight back. They murder in the name of peace. How backwards is that logic? Society…what a joke. They sure fooled you though. They put shackles on us, forced us into a segregated corner of the village to be spied on, and had the nerve to call it equality and heritage. I will change it all." Wrath declared.

"This isn't the way. There were women and children whose lives that you took. Fathers who will never get to see their children again. Civilians who just watched their best friends die. Avoiding tragedies like this is why I did what I did that night." Itachi said angrily.

"And the tragedy of the Uchiha Massacre is why I did what I did tonight. I fight for the oppressed and the dead. So that their sacrifices won't be meaningless! I will create a world where madmen like the Joker get the true justice they deserve; death. The heroes who let them keep on killing will get that same justice. I will create a world where children won't have to cry out anymore. A world where a little girl can be the hero she was meant to be rather than some shackled up slave whose voice got ignored by heroes like that piece of trash that's bleeding on the floor. A world where people truly live as equals instead of a part of some food chain where the strong devours the weak. A world where a thirteen year old boy won't have to murder his family in the name of some messed up lie. A world where a boy won't have to see his parents gunned down in an alleyway because of the jewelry his mother was wearing. If creating that world means that I have to become the monster that tears down this old one, then I'll do it. There's no road left but the one that leads to the end." Wrath said with conviction.

"I'll stop you. There are people in this world that aren't beyond redemption. Everyone deserves that chance." Itachi replied.

"The Uchiha didn't get their chance, so why should these people!" Wrath said as he charged forward. Itachi met him in the middle and engaged him in a battle of taijutsu. The two combatants exchanged shots, each on fueled by their rage against the other. Itachi had the advantage on speed and power, but Wrath's intense will alone kept him in the fight. Itachi threw a jab, hook, cross, and follow through roundhouse kick combination that caught Wrath off-guard and knocked him to the ground.

Itachi summoned a kunai and went for the killing blow. Just before he reached his clone, Itachi was halted by intense pain felt in his feet along with the inability to move anymore. He looked down to see that spikes had emerged from the ground and pierced both of his feet, pinning him to his current spot. Itachi saw that Wrath was using his Hedoro again to his advantage when he molded the form of the spikes that hooked into Itachi's flesh. Wrath submerged the spikes back into the ground to further immobilize him. He normally would have been able to break free with his own strength, but the flesh like material was too strong and sturdy to break.

"Die!" Wrath yelled as he got up from Itachi's attack. He had formed a javelin out of his Hedoro and threw it full throttle at Itachi. Itachi went to activate his Susanoo, but the javelin pierced right through the skeletal ribcage and stabbed Itachi in his abdomen. Itachi hacked up blood as Wrath smiled at his handiwork.

"I told you that with the ability of my Katamarimasu, I can make Hedoro even harder than the flesh of the Susanoo. You're ultimate defense is useless against me. Look at you…gasping for life like mother was when you cut her back open. But now she will get true justice." Wrath said as he formed another hardened javelin.

"If my defense is so useless…I guess I'll just use yours then!" Itachi said to the surprise of Wrath. Before the clone could react, Itachi burst into a flock of crows and knocked Wrath's javelin out of his hands. Itachi rematerialized, caught the hardened javelin, and plunged it right through Wrath's abdomen. It was Wrath's turn to start coughing up blood.

"You die here." Itachi said as Wrath looked on. Wrath shook his head before chuckling, "You're still so predictable."

Itachi ignored him and went to pull out the javelin so that he could deliver the final blow. When he tried to pull it out though, the javelin stayed in its spot. Itachi then felt the flesh slime crawl onto his arms and harden so he was stuck in that position. He looked up to see that the flesh came from Wrath's own body and figured out exactly what that meant, "You used a clone jutsu."

Wrath emerged from the ground, unharmed and quite pleased with his plan. "You underestimated me. I sprung my trap before you sprung yours. When I took you out of the air before stabbing Batman, I made a clone just in case. Not even the Sharingan can distinguish the unique physiology of my Hedoro since it's a derivative of Wood Style Jutsu. There was no way of you knowing until it was too late."

Wrath then used his hardened Hedoro to apply massive pressure to Itachi's arms to the point where they were close to breaking. Wrath used his dual Jutsu to form his ultimate weapon. It was a hardened scythe that was akin to the Grim Reaper. Wrath marveled at the irony of this situation.

"Meet the counter to your Totsuka Blade; this is my Shinigami Scythe. How ironic. You took the souls of an entire group of people and tonight with this weapon of death, I take them back!" Wrath then went to slash Itachi's head clean off of his shoulders. Itachi reacted fast by turning his head and using his Mangekyo Sharingan's ability; the Amaterasu.

Wrath's arms were covered in black flames as he dropped to the ground in seething agony. The flames were quickly eating at his flesh and spreading throughout his body. Itachi watched as his clone went to drastic measure to preserve his life. The hardened Hedoro that was attached to Itachi softened and retreated, though the damage was done since the dangerous jutsu had broken a good amount of the bones in his arms. The Hedoro then surrounded Wrath and started to form two curved blades that were now hardened thanks to the Katamarimasu. Itachi watched in shock as the blades started to hack away at Wrath's arms.

' _He's stopping the fire from spreading by severing off his limbs. His conviction is unnerving,'_ Itachi thought as blood squirted everywhere from the blades. Itachi would have unleashed another round of black flames if it wasn't for the fact that Hedoro unhardened and hovered over the clone like a shield. Seeing that there was no point since Wrath should be down for the count, Itachi went to check on Batman.

Batman was barely conscious when Itachi made it to him. Itachi had to move fast if he was going to save him from blood loss. The only problem was that because his arms were broken he wouldn't be able to lift Batman up. And even if he were able to, it would leave the both of them defenseless. Itachi didn't have enough chakra to summon his Perfect Susanoo so that meant that he was out of options.

"Woah, you both look like crap." Itachi turned to see Hal Jordan; one of Earth's Green Lanterns. Itachi was confused why the hero was here when he noticed that one of Batman's gauntlets was lit up.

"Batman sent out a distress beacon to all Justice League members in the nearby vicinity. I was the closest so I showed up first. The others should be here soon. I didn't know that the situation was this bad." The Lantern commented.

"He's bleeding out fast. We need to get him medical attention or he'll die." Itachi warned. Jordan saw the damage done to both of the vigilantes. They both looked like they could pass out at any moment, "Crow, who did this?"

"That….would be me." The heroes turned around to see a beaten up Wrath that was standing a few feet away from them. His arms were completely severed which left Wrath looking like a bloody mess. Hal was shocked to see that the Wrath that caused all of this damage to Gotham looked exactly like Itachi.

"Crow, what's going on? Why does this Wrath guy look just like you?" Jordan asked as he stared the clone down.

"It seems that someone got a hold of my DNA and cloned me. He is the product of that. Wrath…is the reason why all of those people are now dead." Itachi said sadly. He saw Wrath with a stoic look on his face, "Are you ready to really start fighting Itachi? These games are starting to bore me."

"You have no arms and it's two against one. You sure this is really what you want?" Jordan said while taunting him.

"It was two against one when they faced me too. Look where that got them." Wrath countered as Jordan growled. Itachi stepped up to respond, "Lantern, I want you to take Batman and go. I'll fight him alone."

"No, I can't let you do that. You're arms…you'd-" Itachi cut him off. He wasn't in the mood for arguing, "The only reason he inflicted this much damage to me was because my attention was split between watching over Batman and fighting Wrath. If you joined in then he'd just go after you so that it'll leave me compromised. This is for the best."

Jordan was about to keep fighting Itachi but Batman put an end to it, "Do….what he says. Wrath…is…still dangerous."

Jordan looked away in frustration as he used his ring to form an orb around himself and Batman. The pair lifted up and prepared to return to the Cave since it was the closest medical facility they had access to. He left Crow one last message before leaving.

"You had better not die, Crow. I may not agree with your decisions in the past, but I can still see that this world needs you in its future to survive. Good luck." He said before flying away.

Itachi turned to see his clone. He watched as steam started discharging as Wrath's arms were regenerating. The flesh material of Wrath's Hedoro was attaching itself to the clone's missing limbs and began repairing him. In a matter of moments, Wrath's arms had completely returned much to Itachi's discontent.

"By changing the chakra form of my Hedoro, I can use it to repair damaged skin tissue and heal any injuries that I may incur in battle. With a little more effort and chakra, I can even rebuild destroyed limbs like my arms. That is what you saw when steam was being emitted from my arms." Wrath revealed. What he wasn't saying, though, was just how much chakra he expends in order to use that function of his Hedoro.

' _My chakra is almost gone. That battle with Harm earlier made me use a lot more chakra than I had intended to. And I still don't have complete control over my Hedoro or Katamarimasu. My range of control is still only five meters. Not to mention that it still takes far too much chakra for me to use them. I hate to admit it, but I need more time and training before I'm ready to kill him,'_ Wrath thought with frustration.

"I know you're low on chakra. My Sharingan just showed a massive drop in your chakra reserves. Looks like that healing ability takes a lot out of you. You can't beat me. Give up and answer for your crimes." Itachi demanded.

"Do you know what difference between you and me is? You lived your entire life devoted to lie, while mine will be spent revealing the truth. Our battle is one of deception versus reality. I haven't lied once since waking up for the first time. Not when I slaughtered the Suicide Squad, not with that filth in the Dollmaker or the corruption of that Cathedral, nor will I with you, Itachi. I will kill you and take everything away from you. Unlike you, my plans don't require me to die for them to succeed. I will change the world. Even if a frontal approach to it fails, there's always more than one way that I can go about doing it." Wrath said as he turned to leave.

Itachi was determined to take him down and summoned his skeletal Susanoo with all of his might and went to grab his clone. He would have succeeded if it weren't for the searing flames that blocked his path.

"Fire Style! Great Fire Destruction!" Itachi had to leave to retreat to the rooftops as the streets below were engulfed by powerful flames. Itachi saw across the fire to see the person responsible for unleashing that jutsu. It was the person known as the Masked Stranger.

"Who are you?" Itachi asked as the assailant joined Wrath on the rooftop across from Itachi's. Itachi eyed the person with the gold and red masked with great caution. The Masked Stranger looked on at the damage done to both of the Uchiha's.

"I see you've both formally met. That's good. As for your question…I'm the reason you're here on this Earth. I'm the great threat that the Sage of Six Paths warned you about." The Stranger responded.

After hearing this, Itachi immediately leapt to engage them. He figured that he could hit them both with Amaterasu and end this madness once and for all. To Itachi's surprise, the Masked Stranger met him head on with blinding speed. Lightning started to gather in the Masked Stranger's hand. It got so powerful that it emitted red, ominous lightning. Even with his Mangekyo Sharingan active, Itachi was powerless to defend against the Stranger's attack. The Stranger drove his hand right into Itachi's abdomen and knocked him so hard into the ground that a crater was formed.

Itachi started coughing up blood from the impact of the attack. At the last second he used his Susanoo's ribcage to cushion his fall. It's the only reason Itachi was still conscious at the moment. The Masked Stranger land on top of the ribcage and leered down at Itachi. Red lightning started to emit in both hands now as the Stranger delivered two thundering blows that demolished the ribcage and Itachi's last line of defense. Itachi was dug even further into the ground by the sheer force of power in the attacks.

The lightning in the Stranger's hands faded away. Itachi saw this and tried to burn his opponent with his Amaterasu. The Stranger reacted quickly by grabbing Itachi by his face while intentionally blocking his field of vision. The Stranger applied pressure and started to squeeze Itachi's skull until the satisfying sound of bones breaking and Itachi's mask cracking was heard.

"I've been around for a long time. You're not the first Uchiha to be able to wield the Amaterasu. It is a powerful jutsu, but all powerful jutsu have flaws. The Amaterasu is a jutsu that is predicated on the user being able to see their target. Block the field of vision of the jutsu caster and the Amaterasu is rendered useless. It's why I just broke the orbital bone of your right eye." The Mask Stranger said as he let go of Itachi's face. Itachi could no longer open his right eye.

Itachi was then lifted by his lapels until he was dangerously face-to-face with the Masked Stranger. Itachi looked between both of his adversaries and realized something important, "You…you created Wrath."

"No, you did. When you slaughtered your clan that night and chose to lie rather than face the truth; you created Wrath. Now this world will burn because of it. What happened to you, Itachi? You used to be so ruthless and unchained, but look at you now. You've been tamed and housebroken like some pet. I was observing your earlier fight with Wrath. You had multiple opportunities to kill him, but instead you chose to save Batman. I wonder how many people will suffer because of that choice. The old Itachi who slaughtered his own clan wouldn't have hesitated to go for the kill. You will never be able to defeat Wrath as long your will to act is weaker than his. I don't know what the old Sage was thinking by sending a pacifist like you to face me, but it's going to get a lot of people killed. In order to save humanity as a whole, you must be willing to sacrifice the humanity within yourself. I can make that sacrifice because I truly wish for the world to be a better place. Wrath wants justice for the oppression implemented on those who can't defend themselves like the victims of the Dollmaker. What do you want? Just to be able to say that you don't have to fight anymore; pathetic. You once were able to make that sacrifice for what you thought was for the greater good of humanity, even if it was just for a lie. I hope for the sake of the people you hold dear that you get that will to act back, or else Wrath will take everything away from you. Instead of fighting for a lie, maybe you should try fighting for the truth. Goodbye for now." The Masked Stranger returned next to Wrath as the pair began to leave.

"I'm…not done…yet," Itachi said as he struggled to get back to his feet. He was on the verge of passing out. The Masked Stranger laughed at Itachi's vain attempt of a comeback, "Stay down. You're God couldn't kill me. He doesn't even have the stomach to try. The coward sent you…to fix a problem that he created. Kinda of reminds me of you when you left the fate of Sasuke to Naruto Uzumaki, despite the fact that you were the reason Sasuke wound up being so lost in darkness. It's no wonder the world is so messed up when its creator is so spineless. You all serve him like he is this good and all powerful being, but if that were true then you wouldn't have needed to murder your clan like to preserve peace. Yet again, you find yourself fighting for a lie. One of my collaborators put it best with this; if God is all-powerful, then he cannot be all-good. And if God is all-good, then he cannot be all-powerful. Itachi, the Sage of Six Paths is just as evil as Danzo."

"You're…wrong. The only evil…is you. I…can stop…you. I…will protect…everyone." Itachi mustered out with all of his strength. Wrath shook his head at his template, "There you go again; lying. It's all you know how to do. Lying to other people and lying to yourself. Over 2,000 people died tonight…all under your nose. Why didn't you protect them? Or the Uchiha Clan on that fateful night; why didn't you protect them? You couldn't even save our brother; you had to let some outsider solve a problem that you created. Name one person that you've ever truly protected. Death follows everything that you touch."

"Let's go. The Justice League will be here any moment now. We have more important matters to attend to." The Stranger informed of Wrath.

"Argus. While you sit there and pass out Itachi, I'm going to go kill some more of the people who poison this world. The only reason we are letting you live is because there is still so much for us to take from you. When you wake up, don't look for me. You'll just be wasting your time. I'll come find you when I'm good and ready. When I do, the whole world will see you for the fraud that you are. Until that day, I swear to you that I won't kill another soul after tonight. You don't have to worry about your bad habit of lying being passed to me. Unlike you, I'm a man of my word. I will be the one to change humanity and create a world of true justice. See you later, Itachi." Wrath said as he and his partner disappeared.

The adrenaline in Itachi began to fade along with his consciousness. He could hear voices speaking, but couldn't make out what they were saying. The darkness completely overtook him as the voices got more and more distant.

* * *

James, Amanda Waller, and the rest of the Argus facility were in a state of panic. They were currently under attack by Wrath and on the verge of all being slaughtered. When they first heard that it was Wrath that was behind the destruction of the Gotham Cathedral, Amanda immediately ordered that the clone be exterminated. That's when they realized just the depth of how ruthless Wrath was. When the bomb implanted in Wrath went off they expected for it kill the clone, but instead what happened was part of GCPD Headquarters being destroyed.

"Director, we need to get you out of here. It won't be long before Wrath breaches our lockout protocol. When he does, he's gonna kill everyone in sight. You can't be one of those people." James said as he led her to an escape shuttle underground.

"You're coming with. That's an order! You're too good of a soldier to lose to this monster." Waller said as an explosion was heard in the facility.

"Target has breached! I repeat, target has breached! Alpha Team is engaging the target!" The soldier said over the radio.

"No, get out of there! He'll kill all of you. That's an order!" Waller responded. The soldier refused, "We can't do that, Ma'am. Teams Bravo and Charlie are heading to the shuttle corridor to provide backup and make a last stand while you and the others get away. We're going to hold him off as long we can. It was an honor serving under you."

The soldier stopped talking after that. Waller and James only heard gunfire from that point onwards. The Alpha Team was giving all they had into killing Wrath. The room fell silent after the last round was fired. Waller closed her eyes with the dread of what was going to befall her soldiers.

"Approaching target to confirm kill." The captain of the squad said as he inched closer. A disturbing sound was heard next. Waller knew what that sound was. It was the sound of flesh being torn apart like paper. Another sound was heard after that; the sound of the entire Alpha Team screaming in fear and pain.

And after the two sounds of torn flesh and screaming was over, only silence remained. Waller cursed under her breath for having created this monster. James rushed her and anyone who could fit on the escape shuttle and closed the doors. Waller looked at him indignantly as she saw him enter the escape commands.

"Don't do this! What about your sister?! You won't be able to take care of her if that monster kills her!" Waller argued as the shuttle hatches began to open and the engines of the shuttle started to turn on.

"I helped create this monster. I thought he was only going to fight the bad guys, but for some reason he thinks we're all the bad guys. I should have known that only evil could be produced by a man like Itachi. I have to atone for the lives I got killed by sacrificing myself. You need to help stop him. It was an honor…" The shuttle blasted away as James stayed behind to mount one last stand. It was just him and the Bravo and Charlie teams left.

' _I'm sorry, sis.'_ He thought as everyone left in the room aimed their guns at the entrance in front of them. The lights went dark in the room and silence befell them as they waited. Everyone shook in fear as the door creaked open and footsteps were heard. Then the light of red, Sharingan eyes was revealed. And with that light, they all saw that he held a scythe in his hands.

"Death has come for you." Everyone started firing at the Uchiha clone. Wrath used his scythe to both deflect the bullets and attack the soldiers. As he got closer to the soldiers he began hacking them down one by one. Whether it was cutting their chest open, decapitating them, severing limbs, or as he did with the teams' captains; bisecting them from the crown of their heads down. The floor was littered with limbs, organs, and blood. Before he knew it, only James was left with the clone as he had just finished killing the last soldier.

James shook as the clone turn his attention towards him and began approaching them. His gun was out of bullets and he was out of options. When Wrath was a few inched away from him, James could see the deranged, bloodthirsty look in his eyes.

"Stop your shaking. I'm not going to kill you. You're one of the good ones." Wrath said as he deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan and his Shinigami Scythe. James saw that the deranged look of Wrath was now a look of sadness, "If I killed you, someone close to me would be crushed. Plus, you want to change the world like I do. I'm going to need your help."

James couldn't believe what he was hearing. Wrath was actually sparing his life, "Why would I help a psychopath like you?! You murdered all of those innocent people who didn't do anything wrong! Scum like the Suicide Squad and Dollmaker I can understand, but why did those people at the Cathedral have to die?! I had friends there when you blew it to hell!"

"They had to die. The people in that church allowed a monster like Dollmaker to kidnap innocent children and do unspeakable things to them. They all knew about it and did nothing to help those kids. Compared to the lives that those children have lived, the victims of that church was shown a great mercy. They all died in an instant. Those victims of Dollmaker have to live with what happened to them for the rest of their lives. Do you know what happens to a picture when you change even a small part of it? The entire frame gets ruined. There's no benefit in only changing the parts of the world that we don't like. We have to change everything, or else nothing concrete will come of it. I will change it so that no children or oppressed group of people will ever have to live that way ever again." Wrath said in response to James.

"But there were children in that church. Children who had nothing to do with the rest of that collusion. What about them? Did you even care about them? Do you even care that you took away their chances at life?!" James asked with tears in his eyes.

"Sarah, Tristan, Laura, Michael, Jasmine, Amy, Samuel, Shawn, Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda, Adam, Blake, Jacob, Christian, Victoria, Oscar, Bobby, Sandra, Robert, Cashmere, Rick, Glenn, Isaac…" James listened as Wrath sadly kept listing off names. At first it was confusing him, until he started to realize who these people were.

"The children…you know their names?" James asked hesitantly. Wrath stopped and nodded, "I know all of their names. I do care…they shouldn't have needed to die. It pained me to do it, but killing those children made the world a better place because the corrupt cancer they mingled with burned with them."

"What type of world is worth living in where children have to die in order to make it better for everyone else," James asked now that all of the fight had left him.

"The one we live in. The fact that this city is built on a graveyard of forgotten souls is proof of that. It's why I have to change it…so it won't be like this anymore. Please, help me." Wrath said solemnly.

"I have enough dead people on my conscious. What can I do that you can't do yourself?" James asked.

"You can get me to the Crow. Once Itachi dies, we can truly begin to change the world. We can make it a world that Carson can finally be happy in." Wrath said as the last sentence drew James's attention.

"You know…my sister?" He asked fearfully. Wrath nodded his head, "I do. I'm Itachi's clone. I have all of his memories. He truly cares about her and that's how we're going to defeat him."

"You want to use my sister as bait?" James asked as anger started to rise up within him.

"No, bait suggests that she will be in harm's way. Itachi would never harm her. I just want her to bring him to me when the time is right." Wrath said.

"She…she'd never betray him like that. She's…in love with him." James said scornfully. Wrath had already accounted for this, "That's why I need you. She loves you too. She will listen to you. Just think about it."

Wrath stepped aside and signaled for James that he was free to go, "Why don't you think about it? Go see the world for a few days and watch the ripple effect of my actions. You'll see that I was right."

"Why are you letting me go? I could turn you into the Justice League." James said while trying to figure Wrath's angle. Wrath smiled at him, "Because I know that you'll see what I see. Go on, go to your sister and tell her how glad you are to see her. I'll be waiting here for your return."

James cautiously walked past the clone until he was out of the door and then sprinted. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the dead bodies of people that he worked with and call friends. Unfortunately for James, the stench of blood and the weight of the guilt he felt made blocking out the tragedy tonight impossible.

"Are you sure about letting him roam free? He could tell the Justice League and ruin all of our plans." Wrath turned to see the Masked Stranger now in the room.

"He won't do that. He despises them as much as we do. Besides, it's the only way to get Carson on our side. She will determine whether I kill Itachi, or get killed by him. James will help us because he, too, wishes to change the world. I don't want to kill everyone, just those who are responsible for the shackles that hinder this world. I'm going to need people like James to help me usher in the new world. What happened to the Uchiha will never happen again." Wrath saw that his partner was now using the wall for support and went to help.

"No, it's okay. Using those jutsu on Itachi took a lot out of me. I don't have much time left to keep going on like this. I won't be able to help you if you get yourself in a jam again like tonight." The Stranger said between heavy breaths.

"You shouldn't have done that. It was careless," Wrath said while scolding his partner. The Stranger laughed, "I needed to push Itachi over the edge. He has to become that ruthless killer again. It took Sasuke being in danger to bring that out last time, but your brother isn't here. But Carson is. Using her, we're going to drive him into so deep of a corner until his only way out is through us. That's how you'll get your chance to kill him."

"When that time comes, I'll be ready." Wrath replied.

"Not yet, Itachi is still stronger than you. You need to get better at controlling you're Hedoro and Katamarimasu. When you do, nobody on will ever be able to defeat you. Itachi will fall." The Stranger said confidently.

"I get my rematch in one month. That's when I let the world know that Wrath is here. You have until then to train me so that I can be ready for it." Wrath informed.

The Masked Stranger stood up straight and showed the conviction that Wrath had become accustomed to, "Well then...let's get started."

* * *

"He's waking up!" Itachi heard words but still couldn't make them out. There was a bright light that invaded his vision when he tried to open his eyes, or eye. Itachi still couldn't see out of his right eye since it was bandaged. Itachi felt more and more people enter the room as he struggled to lean forward.

"Stop! You might reopen your stitches. Just lay down." Itachi ignored the voice and kept trying to get up until a firm hand kept him down, "It's okay, Itachi. You're with friends."

Itachi finally got his bearing and saw that he was in the medical bay of the Cave. Every member of the Team plus Superman, Black Canary, Green Lantern, and Captain Marvel were in the room with him. It all started to come back to him.

' _I was in a fight with my clone, Wrath. Batman got hurt. I was about to finish off Wrath when someone else showed up claiming to be the one that the great Sage sent me to defeat. They defeated me and nearly killed me. But why did they let me live?'_ Itachi thought.

Artemis rushed in and gave him as much of a hug that she could without hurting him. When Superman and the others brought him back in the shape that he was in, they all had assumed that Itachi was dead. It took forever to get M'gann to stop crying and stop Conner from rushing out to do something stupid. Artemis was ticked off when she found out how Itachi got this injured.

"You bastard! Why would you do something so stupid?! You could have…you could have been killed. We thought you were dead. I hate you for making me worry and cry like this." Artemis said as she kept hugging her friend.

"I'm…sorry. I just wanted to end all of this." Itachi said to ease his friends.

"Both of your arms were broken, massive puncture wounds in both of your feet, your right orbital bone was crushed, definite signs of a concussion, internal bleeding, and a deep laceration of your abdomen. Not to mention Batman's injuries, which thank heavens we managed to heal as well. You could have died…you should have died." Black Canary lamented.

"I was fighting Wrath. He's…a clone of me, only more ruthless. His ideology of what the world is and what he feels needs to be done makes him too dangerous. I was about to finish him when his partner showed up. That same person is why the Sage of Six Paths sent me here. And now I can see why, his power was incredible." Itachi said.

"A clone of you? How is that possible?" Aqualad questioned. Itachi explained that someone had stolen some of his DNA and made Wrath from it. Artemis and Zatanna explained what happened to them earlier that night when they met up against Wrath. Itachi hated that they had to go through that, "I'm glad he didn't hurt you."

"I knew I shouldn't have left. They were probably counting on it. And they ganged up on you right afterwards. You almost died because of my stupidity. Some hero I am," Jordan said while blaming himself.

"No, because of you Batman is still alive. It would have been worse had you stayed and Batman and you went up against them. At least now I know what I'm up against. How long before my injuries heal?" Itachi asked. He wanted to find and defeat Wrath and his partner before anyone else suffered.

"A few days. Lucky for you we have members on the roster whose powers specialize in healing. It's why you're even able to speak to us now. What concerns me is that you said I instead of we." Canary said while scolding the Uchiha.

"There can't be a we. I'm going to take on Wrath, alone. I'm the one Wrath is angry at. He's going to take it out on the entire world. It has to just be me. That way nobody else has to get hurt." Itachi revealed. Everyone had a problem with that.

"You're an idiot if you think we're just gonna let you face that monster again by yourself. We should have never have let the League kick you out. You almost died because of it. We're going to beat him together as a team like how it should have been from the very beginning. No more solo work." Artemis said with a look of conviction in her eyes.

"But-" This time it was Robin that spoke up, "No buts. That lunatic blew two holes in my city and almost killed my friend. This is personal. I'm not sitting on the sidelines for this. None of us are."

"He's right. The only way we do this is together. I couldn't take watching you hurt like that. If I were there I know I could have made a difference. We all feel like we could have. You're stuck with us." Conner said with the same look of determination as Artemis.

"I don't deserve to have you all as friends…" Itachi says as he lay back down finally. M'gann bent down and gave him a kiss on his cheek, "We don't wanna see you suffer anymore, Itachi. Friends don't let other friends get themselves killed. The burden won't be as heavy if we're all there to help you carry it. Please, let us help you."

"Come on, let's let him rest. We can talk more when his injuries are fully healed. If you need anything, we'll be right outside. They're right, Itachi. This is bigger than any one person. The only way we get through this is together. No more solo work." Superman declared before walking out with the others. Artemis reluctantly let go of her friend and left with the other, leaving Itachi alone with his thoughts.

' _The words Wrath and his partner spoke hurt more than anything else. Wrath…he truly believes that what he's doing is right. And what did his partner mean when he accused the Great Sage of being evil? Maybe Wrath really is my reckoning for what I did to my clan. It's like all of the anger and rage that I felt towards myself and kept bottled up for all of these years has manifested itself in the form of Wrath. His will to act is dangerously powerful. If he truly fights to avenge what happened to the Uchiha Clan, then I have to stop him before he hurts anyone else…I have to live with these deaths for the rest of my life. How many people are going to die because of me?'_ Itachi thought sadly as he closed his eyes in an attempt to go to sleep. Unfortunately for him, the vengeful look of Wrath's eyes would haunt Itachi for the entirety of the night.

* * *

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy reading it! I'm sure I'm gonna hear about it because of how beat up Itachi wound up, but remember he was fighting against two-on-one and had to watch Batman's back. And he still beat Wrath. Though Itachi may be stronger than Wrath, but the Masked Stranger is a different animal. Moves and countermoves are being implanted and I can't wait to write what happens next. Thanks to everyone who read and provided good feedback on the last chapter. I really appreciate it. It was much better received which made me happy. Let me know what you all think of this chapter in the reviews and PMs. Until next time guys and gals!


	28. Misplaced

Itachi was staring into the water below as the members of the Team were mingling about in the Cave. It's been five days since Itachi and Batman were attacked. Most of the injuries that they sustained during his battle with Wrath and the Masked Stranger were healed after some extensive healing. Despite this, Itachi was kept on limited duty and not allowed to go out into the field. Both Superman and Canary were adamant about this and with Red Tornado watching him like a hawk Itachi knew that there was no fighting this.

Itachi worried about how he was going to defeat Wrath and the Masked Stranger. The Masked Stranger basically defeated him with just three hits and Wrath was trouble because of his Mangekyo Sharingan and the powerful jutsu that came with it. It was also their beliefs that worried him _, 'Wrath genuinely believes that I betrayed my clan and that the world is broken. I can't even call him evil because I did the same thing; murdered innocents because I thought it would make the world a better place. Now all of the rage of the Uchiha is back to make me pay for it. How do I even begin to fix this?'_

Artemis saw the wave of guilt washing over Itachi like a flood and went over to him. He'd been so distant towards them ever since waking up. He's wanted to go back to Gotham to find his clone ever since he was able to walk again without pain. It was difficult to get him to stay and rest up, but Superman and Canary managed to get a handle on it. It's made Itachi distant though. He doesn't speak to anyone and only comes out of his room to stare at the water and brood. Every time someone would go over to talk to him, Itachi would just ignore them or tell them that he wanted to be alone. Artemis wasn't going to accept that anymore.

"Carson misses you a lot. She thinks something bad happened to you. It's hard seeing her so worried and sad like that." Artemis said while trying to start conversation.

"Then why am I not allowed to leave and see her?" Itachi replied.

"Because we both know that you wouldn't even go to her. You'd just rush right into battle and instead of her thinking that you're dead, I'm gonna have to sit there and tell her that you really are dead." Artemis argued.

"As long as Wrath and his partner die too. The Sage of Six Paths only said that I was to defeat the threat. He didn't say that I was meant to survive." Itachi said darkly.

"I saw your memories, dummy. He said that he wanted you to live for the good of the world. You're failing. What you're doing now isn't even living, it's…it's…empty. Even before you fought Wrath…it's like you just threw yourself into being the Crow. I need you to remember that you're still Itachi." She said sadly.

Itachi kept quiet. His thoughts were only of Wrath. Itachi leered as he looked down at the water since the only image he saw was that of his clone, Wrath. He didn't know he hated more at the moment; his clone or himself.

"Come hangout with us, Itachi. We're you're friends. Plus, you've stared at the water enough. I don't think it'll hurt you." She said as a joke to try to cut the tension.

Itachi ignored her and kept staring at the water below him. He didn't have time for jokes or friends. He needed to figure out a way to find and defeat Wrath before his clone did something that would scar the world forever. That's what Batman was doing. As soon as he was up and walking, the caped crusader left to scour Gotham for Wrath. Itachi wished he could be doing the same instead of sitting here like a helpless genin.

"You can't keep ignoring us. We're your friends. Let us help you." Artemis urged of Itachi. He kept silent towards the archer hoping that she would take the hint and leave.

"We get that you want to go find your clone and end this, but you have to know that now isn't the best time for that. You almost died. When they brought you back, you barely had a heartbeat Itachi; and that was with you being 100% when you fought them. You're still recovering so fighting them now would just be stupid. Wrath hasn't attacked anyone since you fought him so why go in looking for a fight when you don't have to?" She argued.

"2,107…" Itachi said finally breaking his silence. Artemis looked down at him in sadness. She knew what that number represented, "2,107 people died because of what Wrath did…what I did. Artemis, how many people have died because of a decision that you made in the past?"

Artemis didn't know how to answer that. She just tried to encourage him as best she could but nothing came out. Itachi got up and left soon afterwards, not wanting to be bothered anymore. Artemis went to follow him since she wasn't done.

"Hey, wait up!" Conner and M'gann had just returned from picking up items requested by Batman along with groceries. "Did you get everything?" Batman asked as the teenagers started bringing out the boxes.

"Everything on your list, Batman. Plus groceries. How's Itachi doing?" M'gann asked as she saw her friend walking away, probably to his room. Wally saw that Itachi had that same unreadable look that he's had since waking up, "Still acting like the jerk he's always been. Did you happen to get cookie fixins?"

She smiled at the child like tone Wally had, "Snickerdoodles."

"Babe, you rock my world." Itachi and Artemis opened the door to see Zatanna come in. She'd been visiting more often which led to the others thinking that the young sorceress was close to officially joining the Team. "Oh, hey Zatanna. Have you joined the Team finally?"

"I don't know. My father is so overprotective. Just getting him to let me visit takes a full day wheedling. I wish he'd just give me a little space." She answered.

"I know the feeling." Itachi said as Artemis glared at him. She was just about to respond when all of the adults in the room suddenly vanished. Batman, Zatara, Red Tornado, and Itachi were all gone. There was no trace of any of them. And they weren't the only ones who were experiencing this phenomenon.

Billy Batson, also known as Captain Marvel, was in his room watching television with his legal guardian. They were praising the efforts of his alter ego when a bright flash happened. When Billy opened his eyes, his guardian was gone along with the adult that he was watching on television. He stopped when he heard a car crash into a street light. He looked outside and saw kids that were upset about their mother vanishing without a trace. He assumed that all of the adults were gone and that he needed to transform in order to get to the bottom of this.

Just as he was about to say the magic word, a thought crossed his mind, "All of the grown-ups are gone. And Cap's a grown-up. If I change, I could disappear too."

Someone else who felt this affect was none other than Itachi's clone, Wrath. He was in the Argus facility that he cleared out days ago undergoing specialized training for his bout with Itachi. He was in the training room so that he could improve his control of his Hedoro and Katamarimasu. He had a few surprises that he planned on using on Itachi when they next met. Overseeing his training was the Masked Stranger. The Stranger was there to put Wrath through the most grueling training sessions imaginable.

The Masked Stranger was already quite pleased with the result that Wrath has already achieved, but they both knew that he still was not on Itachi's level yet. Wrath has already managed to expand his range of control from five meters to fifty meters. He'd also drastically reduced the amount of chakra needed to perform his regeneration techniques. Wrath was still struggling with the ultimate endgame that he wanted to achieve. Controlling Hedoro made weapons or the Hedoro itself over a vast distance was one thing, but trying to do what Wrath has planned takes another level of discipline that Wrath wasn't getting at the moment.

The Masked Stranger saw that Wrath was getting angry and decided to give him a break on the specialized sessions. The Stranger decided to have Wrath practice on his chakra control while reading a scroll titled _Three Sides of War_.

"Why are you having me read this? I understand the chakra control since it will help me through an extended battle without passing out, but some scroll on warfare is meaningless to me. I'm an Uchiha. We specialize in warfare." Wrath said which got the Masked Stranger to chuckle.

"Yes, indeed my child. The Uchiha are quite well-versed in the art of warfare. They were so great at war that they lost to the Senju Clan. Over and over and over again. They lost so much that they were forced into an alliance with the Senju because they didn't know if they could ever grow strong enough to defeat them and decided that peace with them was better." The Stranger said as a slick rebuttal.

Wrath leered as he heard his clan be insulted by an outsider. The Stranger paid him no mind and continued on, "And let's not forget about their very successful coup. That was such a glorious war that the Uchiha fought against the Leaf. How long did it last? A few hours at the most. Yes, the Uchiha were so great at war that they got wiped out in one night, by just two men, one of whom was only thirteen years old at the time. The Uchiha do specialize in war…in losing them. You won't be like them because you will have knowledge on your side, and knowledge is true power."

"You're wrong." Wrath said as Hedoro began to form around the Masked Stranger. Wrath smiled as his jutsu encased his mentor from the neck down. Wrath didn't apply any pressure because he just wanted to prove his point on what power really is, "Power is power."

"You think just like an Uchiha. You had Itachi in a similar position to this when you two fought. And he still managed to nearly kill you. Not because he's significantly stronger than you, but because he has the advantage of knowledge over you and experience in combat. If he had wanted to, instead of his flames being aimed at your arms, he could've had it sent towards your head. You wouldn't have dodged it considering Itachi had you hacking off your arms to survive. Now, if he had actually set your head on fire, what would you have done? Cut your head off? I wonder if you would've been able to regrow that." The Masked Stranger questioned.

Wrath had a stoic look as the Hedoro began to unlatch itself from the Stranger and return to the ground. His mentor saw this and walked over to sit with him, "I want you to succeed in changing this world, but that won't happen until you stop thinking like a group of people that got killed off. Obviously they did something wrong or else they would have seen Itachi's betrayal coming. If you keep acting recklessly like the Uchiha, then you're going to die like the Uchiha. You must learn to consider all options and possibilities. They never truly thought that Itachi, one of their own flesh and blood, would actually betray them. It cost them their lives. Erase everything that you think you know about war. This text, if you are open to its possibilities, will help you defeat Itachi."

Wrath's face softened as he looked at the scroll. He opened it straight to its subtitle, _Weaknesses and Strengths_. As he started reading it, Wrath got curious about something, "How do you know that this will help me beat Itachi?"

"Because he's an Uchiha. That makes him predictable. You'll see." Wrath was about to follow up on his question when the Masked Stranger vanished all of a sudden. Wrath scanned the area and saw that there was no trace of his mentor. Wrath left the Argus base and decided to search outside, but still found no signs of the Masked Stranger. He went back inside to figure out what was going on. He turned the monitoring screens on and saw that all traditional media was offline. The only alerts that Wrath received that explained what was going on was when social media posts started emerging in great volumes and they all had the same message; all of the adults were gone.

Wrath did not like the news of that and decided to go see if this was true. If it was, then Wrath would have to figure out how to reverse it before it became permanent.

* * *

The members of the Team were scrambling to figure out what was going on. All over the world it seemed like the adults have vanished. Robin and Zatanna were currently in the Cave trying to figure this out while the others formed refugee centers for the abandoned children. Zatanna knew that this had to be magic.

"The sorcery needed to pull this off is scary big." Zatanna lamented.

"We need you to find its source." Robin added. Zatanna looked dumbfounded at him. There was no way she could pull something like that off.

"How am I-" Robin interrupted her when he pulled footage of when her father helped them to locate the Injustice League, "It's your dad when he helped up locate Wotan and the Injustice League last month."

"But the-the words, I mean, that's only part of it. The rest takes training and…Robin, I-I'm just not on Zatara's level." She said dejectedly.

"I know it's hard, but try to stay whelmed. We'll find your dad, Batman, and all of the others. That's what we do." He said to bring her hopes back up. She smiled back in appreciation of his reassuring words.

* * *

Elsewhere in Happy Harbor, the other heroes were doing their best to salvage the situation. They were rescuing any child they saw that was in need and bringing them to the makeshift refugee camp. Given the circumstances, it was about all they could do at the moment. Wally met up with M'gann after finding another toddler in need and brought them inside the camp. They were welcomed with Artemis's best attempt at entertaining the children already brought in as she was singing to them. Or at least attempting to.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, uh…yes sir, yes sir, three bags full." The kids laughed as the archer combined and butchered two songs at once in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. When her teammates got back, Artemis asked if Wally had called to see if the toddler's parents were home. He shook his head while saying that he'd been collecting kids all day and was unwilling to see anymore empty houses. Superboy walked in at the moment carrying three more children and they knew that this was only the beginning.

Billy Batson was on the move to get some answers. He figured that the Justice League mainframe would know how to fix whatever was happening. He made it to the zeta-beam booth and entered his credentials, but got rejected by the vocal analyzer. His password was for Captain Marvel, not Billy Batson. That meant that he'd have to transform in order to access it which would only get him teleported away like the rest of the adults. He had run into a dead in.

Feeling dejected, Billy walked the streets feeling utterly useless. Out of nowhere, monitors lit up and showed the faces of Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin. Billy immediately stopped what he was doing to listen to the message. They spoke on the fear and anger the kids must be feeling and urged them not to act recklessly. They promised to bring the adults back and urged the oldest of the children to step up as leaders. They encouraged them to protect each other.

Their message was spread across the entire world for all to see. Billy saw their courage and decided that he was going to do something to help them. He snuck unto an airfield and convinced a teenage girl to fly him over to Happy Harbor to assist the heroes in any way he could. Billy wasn't the only one of note who saw this message.

Over in Gotham, Wrath had just finished up bringing a group of kids to a refugee camp ran by Barbara Gordon. There were abandoned kids all over the city. Wrath used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to find and rescue as many of them as he could find. Some were stuck in cars that had crashed because the driver suddenly vanished, some he found in their homes alone and scared. He even found a boy that was wondering the streets looking for kids by himself.

Wrath brought them all to Barbara because he felt she could be trusted to look after them since she was the police commissioner's daughter. Barbara thanked him and asked who he was, but Wrath ignored her and chose to leave. It was clear she didn't know his identity and he planned on keeping it that way until the time was right. He saw the broadcast by the young heroes and decided that he could use them to help solve this problem. He knew they operated out of Happy Harbor thanks to Argus databanks and decided to head over there immediately. One of the kids ran up and stopped him though. It was the young boy who was out looking for kids alone. Wrath saw a look in his eyes that had so much rage in them that it almost reminded him of himself.

"What's your name?" Wrath asked the kid softly. The boy softened his face before answering, "Jason…my name is Jason Todd."

"Hello Jason. Why do you look so angry?" He asked. Jason's hands clenched into fists and begun shaking. It did not go unnoticed by Wrath, "I feel so powerless. I didn't find or save anyone…I-I want to find whoever did this and make them pay for this."

"Hey, don't go beating yourself up. I don't know who is behind this, but I will stop them and bring back yours and all of the other children's parents." Wrath said trying to ease the boy.

The angry look on Jason's face returned at the mention of that, "It's too late for my parents. They were already taken from me and I can't get them back."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't save my mother too. The world is cruel that way. But as cruel as the world is, I still believe that it can be changed for the better. Hold on to that anger and never let it go. Use it to make sure that what happened to your mother will never happen again. How did they pass?" Wrath asked. The answer made his soul crack all over.

"They didn't pass, they were taken. They were killed in that explosion at the Gotham Cathedral. The only reason they were there was because I was being selfish and ran away from home because I got into a fight with my mother. They went there, probably to see if I had gone there because I've ran away and hid there before. They didn't have any plans of going there that night. They were just scared and looking for me, and got blown to hell by Wrath because of it. They died because of me. I want to find Wrath and make him pay. I want to see him dead." Jason said angrily.

The air around Wrath got cold and dark all of a sudden. He was face-to-face with a victim of his war against Itachi. To know that he did this to Jason made him feel sympathy for the boy. But he knew that the only way to win this war and finally invoke change in the world was by doing the despicable things that no one else was willing to. Wrath fully believed that all this death would pave the way for new life going forward. That's why he wasn't sorry for killing the boy's parents and he knew he had to keep moving forward so all of this loss and death would actually mean something. He swore that he'd kill as many people as he had to in order to rid the world of oppression, even if that meant orphaning children like Jason and filling them rage.

' _It's not personal, Jason. We're just on opposite sides of a war that Itachi started. I can tell that we're the same, you and I. We both are motivated by the deaths of our families. That look in your eyes is one twisted by rage. That's how it starts, the fear…the rage, that feeling of powerlessness that turns good people…cruel. At least, that's how it began for me when I witnessed Itachi slaughter my clan. Hold on to that feeling Jason and turn it into a tool that deals true justice to the scum of this world. I can't wait to see what you become in the future.'_ Wrath thought darkly.

"I'm going now. Hold on to that feeling and I promise it won't be like this forever, Jason. I can tell you're in this for the long haul." Wrath said before walking away and disappearing into the darkness. Jason stood there and contemplated his words as Barbara called him back in. Jason swore to find out the identity of the man somehow.

* * *

Back in the Cave, Wally was looking at the shelf of souvenirs from his past missions. Aqualad walked in and told him that Atlantis also had their adults taken too. Wally knew they were getting desperate as he turned to the Helmet of Fate.

"So just how desperate are we? I mean, this thing could definitely come in handy." Wally said morosely.

"Yes, but we both know that anyone who dons the helmet and allows Nabu to possess them may never be released by Doctor Fate." Aqualad warned.

"But last time, didn't Itachi help get it removed?" Wally asked.

"Yes, but I believe that was a onetime occurrence. Nabu made it clear to us that he wouldn't be so lenient again." Aqualad revealed.

"So no, not that desperate." Wally said.

"Not yet." Aqualad agreed. Zatanna walked in and told them that she was finally winning to try and use her father's locater spell. The heroes all converged into the Cave mainframe and watched her chant the spell, "Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!"

"Roanoke Island! You did it!" The heroes quickly got ready to head to the island to stop whoever was behind this spell.

Billy was flying over Gotham in a plane with the girl from the airfield. Turns out she had a pilot lessons and could help get Billy to Happy Harbor so he could help the others. Amber couldn't believe she let a little boy convince her to do something so stupid.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Amber lamented.

"You did the right thing, Amber. I know I don't look like much, but I have to get to Happy Harbor to help." Billy said in gratitude.

"We're almost there. We should arrive just after midnight, on my birthday." Amber revealed. Billy's face went pale.

"Wait, please don't say that you're turning eighteen at midnight?" To Amber's credit, she didn't say it. But that's because midnight had passed and she turned eighteen, which meant that the spell took effect on her and made her disappear.

The plane started to descend at a fast pace. Billy scrambled to get to the pilot's chair to stop the decent. After a lot of shaking by the plane, including one huge on the roof, Billy finally got control of the plane and kept it on course for Happy Harbor.

"I take that as a yes."

* * *

Way back before the disappearances, everyone was back in the Cave. Itachi was heading back to his room, with Artemis in tow, and M'gann and Conner had just returned from getting items for Batman.

She smiled at the child like tone Wally had, "Snickerdoodles."

"Babe, you rock my world." Itachi and Artemis opened the door to see Zatanna come in. She'd been visiting more often which led to the others thinking that the young sorceress was close to officially joining the Team. "Oh, hey Zatanna. Have you joined the Team finally?"

"I'm glad you brought Zatanna over, old friend. Does this mean you'll allow her to join the Team?" Batman asked of Zatara.

"I do not know. Zatanna's so…my only child. When I heard she and Artemis crossed paths with Wrath, especially after what he did to Gotham, you, and Itachi, I felt so useless. I wish I could get used to the idea that she's…growing up." Zatara replied sadly.

That's when all of the young heroes disappeared from the Cave. Conner, M'gann, Aqualad, Wally, Artemis, Robin, and Zatanna all vanished. Itachi, Zatara, and Batman all looked around in worry as no traces of the children were left.

In this reality, instead of all of the adults vanishing, now it was all of the children that were gone.

Back in their hideout, the Masked Stranger was speaking words of wisdom to Wrath when he suddenly vanished. The Stranger knew who was behind this.

"Klarion, I told you not to move without my permission. If anything happens to Wrath, you will suffer great consequences." The Stranger warned before leaving the Argus facility.

There were riots throughout the world. Scared adults were in a panic and willing to do anything to get their children. They even attacked police departments and science facilities to get answers. Villains like Lawrence Crock and Riddler used the distraction of the riots to steal since everyone was so preoccupied to notice them. The public faith in heroes was already fragile thanks to the attack on the Gotham Cathedral and GCPD, having all of the children in the world disappear didn't help things at all.

Back in the Cave, Batman, Zatara, and Itachi were in the room of souvenirs that the Team had gathered in their past missions. One of those souvenirs was the Helmet of Fate that Zatara was staring at.

"So, how desperate are we?" Zatara asked.

"I informed the watchtower you located the focal point at Roanoke. But the rest of the League is deployed to avert the chaos. Tornado, you, Crow and I are on our own." Batman replied.

"I would do anything to get my daughter back," Zatara said. Itachi felt sympathy for him. At the end of the day, Zatara was a father who only wanted for his child to be safe. But using that helmet was out of the question. Nabu made it perfectly clear what the consequences of using it would be, "I want to find them as well, but there are many ways for you to lose her. That helmet is one of them."

Zatara turned to look at Itachi, "So, not that desperate. Not yet. Is the entire League unavailable, Batman?"

The three of them walked out of the room. "All except for Captain Marvel. He's missing."

* * *

Billy was struggling between flying the plane and risking transforming to save Amber. He was in Happy Harbor finally but he knew that letting her die was wrong, he just was hesitant to risk him dying too.

"I can't. If I say it, I'll be an adult. And maybe disappear forever! Captain Marvel may have the Courage of Achilles, but Billy Batson…has the courage of Billy Batson. Shazam!" Lightning flashed before Billy was transformed into Captain Marvel. He soon found himself into the adult reality and was glad he didn't disappear.

He heard a scream and remembered that Amber was falling from the sky. He quickly flew down and caught her before she hit the ground and got her to safety. Captain Marvel then flew to the Cave to reconvene with the adults. Batman, Zatara, and Itachi looked in shock when he flew in out of nowhere.

"Alright guys, I'm here to- you're back! Is it over? Where's the Team?" Marvel asked as he flew in to hug the trio. Itachi tried his best not to hold it against the demi-god, but Batman was openly glaring at Marvel. The hero quickly realized what he had done and put them down before he embarrassed himself anymore.

"Haven't you heard?! Every child in the world-" Zatara was angry and yelling at Marvel. Batman cooled him down before he said something that he couldn't take back. Itachi was curious about Marvel's whereabouts, "Marvel, where have you been?"

"On a world without grownups. Holy molly! There are two worlds." Marvel realized.

"Two dimensions. One for adults-" Batman started.

"And one for children." Itachi finished.

"And you can travel between them?" Zatara asked.

"I think I can…I know I can. Shazam!" Captain Marvel was now Billy Batson and was back in the world of children. He turned around to see all of the members of the Team staring at him with confused looks.

"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Aqualad demanded. Billy was glad to see them again, "Quick, read my mind."

M'gann used her powers to shift through the boys mind and saw that the boy was really Captain Marvel. Wally and the others weren't as convinced as she was though. Billy saw this and brought up when he used to bring Wally nachos and pineapple juice to the speedster. That pretty much convinced everyone that he really was Captain Marvel.

Outside of the Cave was Wrath. He had hitched a ride on Billy's plane when it began to descend near Gotham and rode on its roof in secret. He figured that some kid who managed to actually fly on a plane must have been associated with the heroes of this world somehow. And as it would turn out, he was right.

When lightning struck the plane, Wrath jumped off and landed safely on the beach as the plane fell into the water. He scanned it and saw no trace of the passenger that was navigating it and decided to head to his original objective. Now he stood outside and waited for the young heroes to make a move.

Back in the adult world, Marvel, Zatara, Batman, and Itachi were all going over what the plan would be going forward.

"There will be threats in both dimensions, and we may not be familiar with our opponents." Batman started.

Captain Marvel was back to Billy Batson in the child world. He was tasked with coordination the plan with both the adults and the kids.

"But the key to this mission is a coordinated, simultaneous attack." Aqualad said. Itachi agreed with the plan in the adult world, "I agree. The best chance of stopping this sorcery is to strike fast, disrupt their efforts, and hope the two dimensions merge naturally back into one."

* * *

Klarion was in the child world keeping his end of the spell going when he felt attacks heading his way. He quickly turned and defended against it by conjuring up a shield. He smirked at Artemis and Robin as they stared in shock.

"Is that the best you can do?" Klarion asked before blasting the two of them with his magic. He saw Kid Flash, Superboy, and Aqualad try to pincer him in from three sides. Klarion easily dispatched them with his magical shield. Zatanna decided that she would fight magic with magic.

"Etativel mih ffo eht margatnep!" Klarion scoffed at her weak attempt of an attack. "Baby magic. Fi ehs stnaw ot etativel os yldab tel reh!"

Zatanna was lifted up and flung away. Conner moved quickly to catch her before she hit the ground hard. M'gann tried using telekinesis to throw giant rocks at Klarion, but his shield was too great of a defense to be affected by her. He shot out fire from his mouth which made Miss Martian have to retreat. Kid Flash ran to Artemis to reformulate a plan of attack.

"Listen, when Nabu possessed my body, he defeated Klarion by attacking the cat." He revealed.

"Good, I'm not much of a cat person anyways." Artemis said as she shot her arrow at the cat, Klarion saw this attack coming and turned the arrow into a ball of yarn, "Show them what a familiar to a lord of chaos can do, Teekl."

The small cat turned into a big saber-toothed tiger that lunged at Conner. It would have stayed on the attack, if not for a gigantic fireball that set it on fire before Klarion used his magic to douse the flames. He angrily searched for whoever launched that attack.

"Who did that?!" Klarion yelled. A figure emerged from the trees and revealed itself to the battlefield. Zatanna and Artemis went pale at seeing who this person was as his features became clearer, "That would be me. Wrath has come for you."

The Team was really on the defensive. Robin cursed at their luck, "We have to face this magician and Itachi's clone. This is bad."

"What do you want, Wrath?" Aqualad demanded. He really wished that Itachi was here right now to back them up. Wrath turned and addressed the Atlantian, "Right now, I want to stop Klarion."

* * *

The adult world saw that the rest of Klarion's partners were chanting to keep the spell up on their end as well. Their identities were Wotan, Felix Faust, Wizard, and Blackbriar Thorn. Suddenly, Batman, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado, Zatara, and Crow landed to immediately launch attacks. Batman threw a batarang at Thorn, but missed and got attacked by vines. Itachi moved quickly to get him loose using the Phoenix Flower Jutsu to burn the vines away. Red Tornado shot wind blasts at Faust, but the fire attack he launched easily overpowered the wind and struck the android. Zatara used a spell to strike all of the sorcerers with lightning. The magical gem in the center of the pentagram they were standing in absorbed the attack and channeled it into the child world for Klarion to use.

"You teamed up with the grownups. How overrated," Klarion said as he shot the stored lightning at Wrath. Wrath made no attempt to move as his Hedoro shot out of the ground and shifted into a barrier that protected him. When the barrier dropped, Wrath stared stoically at Klarion.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you're going to defeat me." Wrath said as he used his Mangekyo Sharingan to create his Shinigami Scythe. Klarion gulped as Wrath slowly started to walk towards him. The others watched with worry as the same thought ran across all of their minds. If Klarion won, he'd turn his attention to them and kill them all. And if Wrath wins, knowing that they are friends of Itachi, he'll turn his attention to them and kill them all.

Zatanna saw that either way, they were outmatched by both opponents. She mustered up all of the conviction she could before revealing the hidden Helmet of Fate.

On the adult world, the Leaguers plus Itachi were still fighting off the group of sorcerers. Marvel and Crow were fighting off a barrage of giant rocks being thrown by Magician. Itachi was using his Susanoo to crush the attacks as Marvel prepared to blitz him with a swift attack. Just as Marvel was about to go, Zatara stopped him.

"Captain, wait! That mystic gem, Ambre Jour Verdu, is the conduit of this sorcery." Zatara revealed. Itachi agreed with the sorcerer.

"He's right. Without that gem, they won't have the power to separate the two dimensions. We need to get it out of their possession. We're facing four of them, and since their on a pentagram, that means that the others are only facing one. They have a better chance of getting to that gem than we do. You have to relay the message to them. We'll handle the sorcerers here." Itachi said as he blocked a rock from crushing Batman with his Susanoo.

"You can count on me. I'll tell the Team. Shazam." Lightning struck Captain Marvel and brought him to the child world as Billy again. He looked and saw what he believed to be Itachi walking towards Klarion with what he thought was a weird weapon in his hands. When he got out of his shock, he went to call out to Itachi but Miss Martian stopped him.

"Itachi, it's the-" She covered his mouth before he could be heard by either of them, **"Don't shout, Billy. I've linked you telepathically to the others."**

" **That's so cool…I mean it's the gem at the center of the pentagram. Destroy it and we win. Got that, Itachi?"** Billy thought telepathically. His face scrunched back up into confusion when Itachi showed no signs of acknowledging what was just revealed.

" **Why didn't Itachi say anything? Can't he hear us too?"** Billy asked. M'gann gave him a serious look before responding, **"That's not Itachi."**

" **What are you talking about? Of course that's Itachi! He must have figured out a way to travel between dimensions with me. We have to help him before-,"** He got cut off by some of the scariest words he's ever heard.

" **That's Wrath, Itachi's clone. This is very serious. We need to get the adults back fast before Wrath turns his attention on us. "** She thought.

" **Oh no. This is bad."** Bill thought. Zatanna heard their conversation grabbed the Helmet of Fate. The others yelled to stop her but it was too late. She donned the helmet and took on the entity known as Doctor Fate, **"No, this is Fate."**

* * *

Billy returned to the adult world as Captain Marvel after seeing Zatanna become Doctor Fate so that he could warn the others. To say that Zatara and Itachi were livid after hearing the news was an understatement.

"She did what?! Go back right now and-" Marvel knew what he had to do. Itachi was also worried about what his clone might do to the others, "Marvel, we have to end this on our end fast before Wrath hurts any of them. Use your speed and strength to tunnel underground. They can't defend against an attack they don't see coming. We'll keep them distracted topside."

"Got it." Marvel used his speed and powers to spin at great velocity to force his way underground. When he emerged, it was with the gem in his hand which he quickly threw to Zatara.

In the child world, the battle still ensued. "Klarion, this ends now!" Everyone looked on as Fate leered down at Klarion. M'gann quickly told Billy to inform Itachi and Zatara about what just transpired. Billy shouted Shazam and went back to the adult world to relay the news as Klarion and Fate clashed. The other members of the Team went to try and destroy Klarion's shield but it proved too powerful for them. Even Fate couldn't break it. Klarion laughed as he saw that Doctor Fate was struggling to maintain his form.

"When the world divided, the helmet split too! You're not all here Nabu! And you're about to lose along with that poor, soon to be dead girl! She sacrificed herself for nothing." Klarion taunted.

Wrath stopped in front of the barrier and plunged his weapon into the ground. He looked down and saw the cracks in the ground from the force of it reach and extend past Klarion's barrier. Klarion laughed at the clone, "Is that supposed to scare me? Nothing can break my barrier!"

"You talk too much. Let's fix that." Wrath said. Klarion was about to chide Wrath more when something emerged from the ground below him. Everyone saw that it was another Wrath that popped out of the ground and grabbed Klarion by the throat. Klarion had a shocked and scared look on his face.

The Wrath that was outside of the barrier dissolved into Hedoro. Klarion was almost at a loss for words, "What's going on?"

"Shut up and I'll tell you. The Wrath that was outside was a clone. The real me has been underground almost the entire time." Wrath revealed.

"But when? I had my eyes on you the entire time." Klarion said as Wrath's grip on his throat tightened. Wrath smiled as Klarion was gasping for air, "Not the entire time. When you tried to hit me with the lightning attack, I created a barrier to defend against it. That wasn't the barrier's only purpose though. It shielded me from your field of vision and allowed me to hide underground until the perfect moment to strike."

Everyone saw that steam was being discharged from Wrath's hands, which meant they were healing themselves. The smile on Wrath's face was replaced with a chilling look, "The next time you make a barrier, make sure that it extends underground. I noticed the flaw right from the beginning. Form when I first walked out, I saw how the shield laid perfectly on top of the ground without a single crack. When the opportunity was right, I decided to dig underground and wait for my clone to confirm it. That's why he drove my scythe into ground; to see if the cracks would extend past the shield and to signal me for an attack. You're arrogance has cost you."

"Pots mih htiw-" Klarion tried to cast a spell to get Wrath away from him. Wrath used some Hedoro that he still had on his hands and hardened it with his Katamarimasu ability. The added force caused Wrath to crush Klarion's Trachea so that the sorcerer couldn't speak anymore. Everyone watched as Klarion started spat out a lot of blood as a result. It also caused the barrier around Klarion to disappear finally.

"You're done talking. This chaos that you've caused…the children who got hurt because of you, I won't forgive it," Wrath then dropped Klarion on the ground. Everyone looked at the scene in confusion, "Fortunately for you though, I made a promise not to kill anyone until my fight with Itachi."

Wrath began walking away as the heroes jumped out of their stupor and got on the offensive, "Stop where you're going, Wrath! We're taking you down now!"

Wrath shook his head at Wally's words. They were going to make it hard for him to keep his promise to Itachi, "Go home, Kid Flash. I'm out of your league."

"That may be true, but I do know someone who is in your league." Wally said as he sped forward and retrieved the gem. He threw it to Doctor Fate, and alongside Zatara in the adult world, they chanted the spell to fix reality.

"Yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!" The two worlds became one once again. Wrath was greeted with the sight of Itachi who was staring him down. Klarion's fellow sorcerers were defeated, which meant the group of heroes were now focused on Wrath.

"Finally recovered from that beating you took, Itachi? I took care of thing over here, and I didn't have to kill a soul." Wrath said while motioning to Klarion. Itachi saw that, thought the sorcerer was in bad shape, he indeed was still alive. The sorcerer was scrambling to get away from Wrath. Even though he couldn't speak, he still had the awareness to summon Teekl back over to him and use him to open a portal as a means of escape. Wrath did nothing to stop Klarion, as his attention was solely on Itachi.

"That's what happens when you let the villains live. They escape, come back later on, and go back to killing more innocents." Wrath warned.

"Why did you come here?" Batman demanded. He was on high alert after his first encounter with Wrath, "It wasn't for any of you fools. The children needed their parents returned to them, so I decided to be the one to do it. That's all."

"Surrender now!" Aqualad demanded as he got his weapons ready for a fight. The others joined him as well. Wrath shook his head before addressing Itachi, "This is what you chose over the Uchiha. What you chose to kill innocent women and children for…pathetic. This is the peace you're fighting for?"

"Itachi fought for peace, but the Crow fights for justice." Itachi said as he ran towards Wrath, who met him in the middle as the two exchanged blows. Wrath saw Itachi summon his skeletal Susanoo and knew that Itachi was dead serious.

"Not too bad, but I can do better!" Wrath countered with his skeletal Susanoo as the two behemoths knocked each other back. Wrath shook his head before deactivating his Susanoo. He'd seen enough, "You're not ready to face me. You don't have the look in your eyes. You still don't want to kill me. When our true fight happens, it will be a battle to the death. Itachi, I see now that I've been going about this the wrong way."

"Yasaka Magatama!" Itachi didn't care about Wrath's proclamations and went to end this now. Wrath used his Hedoro to form a giant wall and his Katamarimasu to harden it. The result of the clash was that Itachi's attack wasn't even able to dent Wrath's defenses. Wrath withdrew his wall as Itachi tried to formulate a new means of attack.

Wrath turned to see batarangs and arrows being shot at his blindside. Batman, Robin, and Artemis used Itachi's frontal attack to maneuver around and get a good angle on Wrath. This was also to prevent him from making a clone in secret like what he did against Klarion. Wrath made no attempt to dodge and took the attacks as the projectiles lodged themselves into Wrath's body.

Wrath slowly plucked each one of them out as steam would emit from each wound. They couldn't believe that Wrath healed himself form their joint attack almost instantaneously. Wrath picked up the batarangs and arrows before looking at the three heroes.

"Here. I think you lost these!" Wrath yelled as he threw them back at the trio. The speed there were thrown at was so fast that none of them would be able to avoid them all. Thankfully, Kid Flash and Captain Marvel were fast enough to catch them before serious harm was done. But then the paper bombs that Wrath placed on the weapons went off and the group was caught in a giant explosion.

Aqualad charged ahead and tried to attack Wrath with his weapons. Wrath toyed with him for a while by dodging and weaving around the attacks, but ended things swiftly when he kneed Aqualad in his midsection. Aqualad stopped in his tracks a Wrath grabbed him by the arm and threw him right at an inflight Miss Martian to knock her out of the sky.

Conner got really mad at that and rushed right into Wrath. He figured that Wrath wouldn't be able to hurt him since he was pretty close to indestructible; big mistake. Wrath dodged and parried all of Conner's wild attacks thanks to his Sharingan. Wrath saw Conner throw a wild cross and parried it down with his left hand. He then shifted his body so that it was perpendicular to Conner's so that his attack angle was perfect, summoned Hedoro and had it cover his entire right hand and used Katamarimasu to harden it, and delivered a devastating counter blow that knocked Conner several feet backwards.

Superboy landed in a heap right in front of Itachi. Conner tried to get back up, but his body was still in shock from the magnitude of that attack. It was definitely the hardest he's ever been hit in his life. He fell back down in a heap as Itachi saw Wrath stoically looking at the scene. Pretty much all of his teammates were soundly defeated, _'He's gotten stronger since we last fought. This isn't good. The others are no match for him. I have to end this.'_

"Itachi, if you're not going to go all out against me, then there's no point in me staying here." Wrath said as he walked away. Itachi wasn't done though as he shot a Fireball Jutsu at his clone. Red Tornado used his wind powers to enhance the size of the fireball exponentially. Wrath grabbed his Shinigami Scythe from the ground and used it to slice the fireball in half. The flames were split before it made contact with him.

Itachi couldn't believe it, _'That scythe of his wasn't able to do that last time. To be able to slice through an enhanced version of my Fireball Jutsu takes incredible skill and precision. He's getting better at utilizing his Sharingan.'_

Wrath quickly weaved hand signs to use the Phoenix Flower Jutsu towards Red Tornado. Red Tornado tried to evade the attack but was too slow as the volley of fireballs hit him head on and blasted him out of the sky. Wrath glared at Itachi as the two stared each other down, "The gap between us is shrinking, Itachi. But as much as I want to cut your head off right now, I know it's neither the time nor the place. When I kill you, Gotham and the whole world will witness it. I'd stay, but I see that you all have more pressing matters at the moment."

Itachi turned to see Zatara speaking with Doctor Fate. He was begging the spirit to release his daughter. Itachi deactivated his Sharingan as he knew his clone was right. Wrath teleported away as Itachi looked on. Itachi didn't follow him because he knew that his friends were more important than Wrath at the moment.

When the members of the Team recovered, they ran to help Zatara persuade Nabu to release Zatanna. Batman, Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado all stood off to the side near Itachi and watched the scene sadly.

"Great Nabu, please release my daughter." Zatara begged.

"…no. The world needs Fate, especially with the day of golden light quickly approaching. The child sent by God is not yet ready to take on this grave threat. This girl's natural affinity to the mystic arts makes her the perfect of for me to defend against the golden light." Nabu answered definitively.

"You can't do that!"

"She has her own life to live!"

"Kent would never allow you-" Nabu had heard enough of their protests, "Kent Nelson did object, strenuously. So I released his spirit to the afterlife. He is gone."

Things were looking bleak and their chances of getting their friend back were fading fast. Zatara knew what needed to be done and spoke to Nabu again, "Take me instead. My skills are already at their peak. My body is physically stronger and better able to withstand the strain of your power."

"All true, but if I remove the helmet, what guarantee have I that you will don it?" Nabu asked.

"Mine," Everyone had shocked looks on their faces as Itachi stepped forward. Itachi knew what needed to be done in order to free Zatanna, "I was sent by the Sage of Six Paths to save this world, so my word should have weight behind it in your eyes. I will make sure he puts the helmet on once you remove it, not that I need to. No father would truly let their child be taken when they have the power to do something about it. I've faced the great threat…and I know that we will need all the help we can get if we're going to be able to defeat it."

Nabu silently agreed as he dropped to the ground and removed the helmet from Zatanna's head. The father and daughter hugged after being reunited finally. Zatara sadly kissed her forehead and told her that he would always love her. Before donning the helmet, he addressed the others.

"Please, take care of my daughter." Zatara begged.

"You have my word. I won't let this be in vain." Itachi replied. Zatanna begged her father not since she knew that this was her fault, but he ignored her. He donned the helmet and became the permanent vessel of Doctor Fate. Fate then took control of the apprehended sorcerers and teleported them to a secure location, leaving everyone behind to cope with what they just lost.

* * *

Once the world went back to normal, most of the young heroes went home to either check on their parents or help Zatanna move her things into the Cave. She was still grieving from the loss of her father because she knew that it was her fault it happened. Once her teammates helped her unpack, Zatanna was left alone to try and get past the pain she felt.

As the others were helping her, Itachi was in a meeting with Batman. He relayed Wrath's ending message to the vigilante and together they began working on a strategy to defeat the clone once and for all. And since Itachi was now medically cleared to fully resume his duty as the Crow, he knew that now was the time to strike back. Itachi also knew that with the rapid improvement that Wrath displayed, he too would need to begin training for their inevitable clash. Itachi swore that he would win and finally end the cycle of hatred that has cursed the Uchiha.

In a hidden location, Klarion was meeting with his contemporaries. The mission he set off to accomplish went off without a hitch. Though him getting his throat crushed wasn't how he would have liked it to end, he still was able to create a big enough distraction that was able to pull away attention from Sportsmaster and Riddler as they secured a very important item from Star Labs. The only one who wasn't happy was the Masked Stranger.

"Klarion, you deliberately disobeyed me. I told you to wait until I gave the order before creating the distraction. Because of it, Wrath was exposed to the Justice League before he was supposed to." The Stranger said to Klarion.

"Hey, it all worked out. We got the item and the clone made it back alright. I'm the one who should be mad. The bastard crushed my throat!" Klarion responded angrily.

The air around the sorcerer got cold and he found that breathing was a lot harder to do all of a sudden. He really got scared when the Masked Stranger spoke again in a dark, threatening tone, "Wrath is more important to me than all of your wretched lives. If you ever disobey me like that again and put Wrath at risk like that, no spell alive will be able to fix what I do to you."

Klarion gulped before nodding excessively. Everyone watching also got the terrifying message that the Stranger wanted to convey, "The day of golden light is almost upon us. We cannot afford slip ups like today. I've already planned out everything. All you all have to do is do what I say, when I say it. Once Wrath destroys the Justice League and kills Itachi, the world will finally kneel to the Light."

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter! This was probably the hardest chapter I've had to write so I don't know what the reception to it will be. I hope you all enjoy it though! Wrath and Itachi's big fight is only two or three chapters away and I promise it will be epic. Also, I like how Itachi inspired Tim Drake while Wrath has inspired Jason Todd. I can't wait to write how that plays out in the future. Thank everyone who followed or favorited my last chapter along with all of the reviews and PMs. I'm thinking about answering review questions/comments that you all send me at the beginning of next chapter in an Author's Note section so shoot away with any questions you might have. If you like this chapter or think I could improve in certain areas; let me know in the review/PMs and I'll happily reevaluate and adjust when needed. Thanks again and I'll see you all next chapter! Till next time guys and gals!**


	29. Unbound

**redflash 2008- I can neither confirm nor deny that another Narutoverse character will be showing up soon.**

 **10868letsgo- I agree with the Tim Drake/Jason Todd assessment. I can't reveal who the Stranger is yet, but I can say that it's definitely not Madara. Too played out of a twist for my liking.**

 **Brave2000- We agree and that's basically what this chapter is about.**

 **Marouan Dahraoui- Thanks! I really appreciate it.**

 **NarutoUchiha2055- Thanks! I'm glad you like it. And I can't reveal if I plan on having Naruto come in eventually or not yet.**

 **chimera629- I'm glad to see you've taken a liking to the story. I hope you enjoy the rest when you catch up.**

 **SpiritSearcher- The intensity is only going to increase from here.**

 **ExiaDark- I'm glad you like the story!**

 **AnimeA55Kicker- I love the passion in your reviews. And he joined the sidekicks because he's already friends with them.**

* * *

The heroes were all staring in awe of the scene they were witnessing. Even though it has been going on for two weeks, it didn't make what they were watching any less amazing. Robin and Kid Flash were on the beach of Happy Harbor. Connor and M'gann would have been there too, but were in the Cave doing training of their own. Batman, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, and Green Arrow were all there watching too. What had everyone in awe was Itachi as he was training. They had never seen anything like it and it as yet another reminder that Itachi was indeed on another level than any of them.

These training sessions started after Itachi's second run-in with his clone, Wrath. It showed Itachi that defeating Wrath would take every ounce of willpower that he had. It also showed him that he needed to resume training to better fight off Wrath.

After Klarion was defeated and everyone returned to the Cave, Itachi and Batman held a secret meeting about how to deal with Wrath. It didn't slip past Itachi that Wrath said that he wanted to defeat him in Gotham. They both surmised that whatever Wrath had planned must be predicated on the two Uchiha members being in Gotham at the time of their fight. So it was decided that until Wrath was handled, it was best if Itachi stayed out of Gotham. So for the past two weeks he has been staying at the Cave, training for their eventual bout. They knew that Wrath wanted to fight him badly, but instead of fighting the madman on his terms, they would force him to come to Happy Harbor and fight on the heroes' terms. In their mind, there was no way Wrath could take on the combined might of the Justice League and Itachi.

It was a sound plan and one that should work if executed perfectly. Itachi preferred to fight his clone alone since he felt most responsible for all of the death that has transpired, but he knew that this was the best chance of defeating him. It still didn't sit well in his heart. That's why he's been training so hard. The focus of this training has been to enhance the power of his jutsu. That meant taking things to a whole new level.

"Fire Style! Flame Flower Jutsu!" Itachi shot out three gigantic, meteor-sized fireballs towards the sea which caused a gigantic flame geyser to erupt and color the sky orange. The jutsu is an enhanced jutsu that was created by mixing the Phoenix Flower Jutsu with the Fireball Jutsu. The pure power of it was a sight to behold.

"I sure am glad he's on our side." Wally said as he shielded his eyes from the bright light. Everyone certainly agreed with that sentiment.

"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Itachi is the most peaceful of us all. Then... he shoots fire that blankets the skies and it is difficult not to think of him as a god of destruction. And how fortunate we all are that the thought does not occur to him. That he chooses to run away from the fight, not because he's scared he'd lose, but because he knows he'd win and decimate everything in his path." Batman said in awe of the young shinobi.

"The scariest part is that there are two of him, and with the other having all of the power of Itachi, but the beliefs of Ra's al Ghul." Robin added.

"We're gonna take him down though. Wrath can't stand up to us as long as we have Itachi on our side." Kid Flash said with determination. As a buffer to his point, Itachi launched another one of his new and enhanced jutsu.

"Fire Style! Blaze Ball Jutsu!" Itachi fired off a fireball that was twice the size of anything they'd ever seen before. Itachi creates it by combining his Fireball Jutsu and his Amaterasu. It takes great timing and chakra control since he wants to black flames to enhance the fireball instead of burning it up. It took a week to get everything in sync, but Itachi finally has it under control. The fireball was shot into the distance and created a devastating explosion the rocked the sea around them.

"It seems Itachi has blown up another uninhabited island. That makes four." Red Tornado noted.

"You're going to go bankrupt from having to keep buying these islands. You do know that, right Bats?" Dinah said as Batman leered ahead. He was already dialing Alfred to make the arrangements as the others laughed. The group decided to head back to the Cave and called out to Itachi. They didn't want him to burn out before the next mission.

Itachi deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan and started heading back to the Cave. Itachi didn't even join his teammates on the way there, opting to walk alone.

"He's still distancing himself from the group." Black Canary said sadly.

"Wrath consumes his mind. It's all he ever thinks about. His mind is in the right place." Batman responded.

"Oh of course you'd say that. His mind may be in the right place, but even a blind man could see that his heart is split in two. It's not healthy." Green Arrow argued.

"Neither are the thousands of Gothamites that died that night." Batman said with a hint of anger.

"That wasn't Itachi's fault and you know it." Canary said with the same hint of anger.

Batman merely grunted as his gauntlets lit up. He shook his head and addressed his League teammates again, "Come with me to the Cave. There's something you must see."

"Oh what now?" Canary and Arrow both said in unison.

* * *

When the League members returned to the Cave, Batman immediately went to show them what he had seen earlier. He felt Oliver and Dinah had a right to know that something like this was going in without their knowledge.

"So what's the problem?" Oliver asked. Batman turned on the viewing screen to show what appeared to be a training video of Superboy sparring with Black Canary. It all seemed like normal, until they got to the part where Dinah was locking lips with Connor. That was a big problem.

"Dinah?!"

"Freeze playback! That never happened." Dinah said in defense of herself.

"You need to keep watching. Play!" Batman said as the video continued. It would go on to show that the Dinah in the video was actually M'gann. She used her powers to change her appearance to that of Black Canary for some reason. Oliver literally laughed out loud after seeing this.

"Don't you laugh! She…and he…Oliver this is not funny!" Dinah said angrily to her spouse.

"No, no of course not." Oliver said while trying to control himself. He also wanted to avoid getting punched by Dinah.

"Please understand, on Mars this is a common game. My people all shapeshift, but also read minds. So no one is ever misled and I am certain Conner knew he was with M'gann from the very beginning." J'onn said in defense of his niece.

"We're not on Mars. J'onn!" Dinah retorted. J'onn had to think fast to try and salvage this, "No, but my niece does not understand things are different on Earth."

"Then I'll make her understand." Dinah said as she left for M'gann's room.

* * *

Back in the Argus site, Wrath was sitting down and had just finished reading the scroll given to him by the Masked Stranger. He found it very fascinating and planned on using it to help further his cause. His mentor walked up to him and started to address him, "You've been pretty tame lately. There's only a week left before your scheduled bout with Itachi. I thought you'd be more on edge."

"Why hasn't the Crow been spotted in Gotham for over three weeks?" Wrath asked.

"He's probably just been looking for you." The Stranger guessed. Wrath wasn't buying it though, "No, he'd never abandon this city. It's his new home and we both know what lengths he'd go to in the name of protecting his home. So where is he? Why haven't there been reports of him thwarting crime in Gotham since you and I fought him? There have only been reports of him in Happy Harbor."

"What are you getting at, my child?" This has the supervillain's interest.

"I think he's not in Gotham anymore. I think that he's trying to get me out of the city. He knows that I want the fight to happen here and he's trying to force my hand. He wants a fight on his terms and I bet with the other heroes as well." Wrath surmised.

"It's only Itachi that hasn't been seen in Gotham. Batman, Robin, and even the archer girl have been spotted in this city in the past few weeks so that ploy must only apply to Itachi. We have to find a way to draw Itachi back to Gotham if our plan is to work." The Stranger said.

"And I have the perfect way to do it." Wrath said as he got up and left. The scroll he had finished was on a subsection that read, _Variations and Adaptability_. The Masked Stranger asked Wrath where he was going.

"I'm going to call Itachi's bluff. If he wants to play keep out, then so be it. It just means that now is the perfect opportunity to go after the one thing that both he and I have in common." Wrath said as he left the room and headed to his destination.

The Masked Stranger smiled after realizing what Wrath meant, ' _This should be very interesting…and entertaining.'_

* * *

Dinah went to M'gann to have a much needed heart-to-heart with her. After Dinah finished scolding M'gann and advising her not to play shapeshifting games anymore, everyone was called into the conference room by Batman. Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Crow were all being assigned a mission.

"Rumaan Harjavti is the democratically elected president of Quarc. Harjavti has been praised as a fair, wise leader. A humanitarian." Batman started. Wally cracked a joke about Bruce Wayne in response, but no one thought it was funny.

"But five days ago, Harjavti aligned himself with the dictator of the neighboring nation of Bialya; Queen Bee." Batman said as the queen's face turned up on the monitor.

"I take it you're not a fan of hers." Itachi said as he noted the change in Batman's tone. Batman confirmed that assumption, "Few are, but Harjavti suddenly backs Queen Bee's baseless claim that Qurac and Bialya were one nation in ancient times. He's announced that the countries will reunify in two days at a ceremony in Qurac." Batman stated as the speeches of the two leaders played.

"And the Quracis are okay with this?" Wally asked while expressing his doubts.

"Hardly, but they're well aware of the brutality of Queen Bee's regime. The queen has censored the press, silenced all legitimate protests, and invited the Bialyan military into Harjavti's country to enforce martial law." Batman showed the imaged of the chaos in the streets.

"I take it you believe that she's controlling him. I remember reading that she has the power to enthrall most men and some women if the situation calls for it." Itachi surmised.

"Yes, she has that ability, but not from such a long distance. And we have confirmation that she hasn't left Bialya. Something else is at work here. Find out what it is. Crow, you will be the leader." Batman ordered.

"What about Aqualad or Robin? I don't think I'm needed for a reconnaissance mission. Wrath is still out there." Itachi said in response to being forced on this mission. He needed his focus to solely be on defeating his clone.

"Wrath will still be out there when you get back from this mission. You've been training for three weeks straight, all while having little to no contact with your teammates. You're going to need to fight together in order to defeat Wrath." Dinah said in support of Batman's decision.

"Aqualad is busy helping Aquaman and Robin will be there to assist you as second-in-command. With all of the experience that you bring to the table, you are the most logical choice for the job. Remember, the plan for defeating Wrath depends on the Team's cohesiveness. This will help restore any fractured team chemistry. My decision is final." Batman declared.

Itachi leered at the vigilante before turning away and heading for M'gann's ship. The others stood there awkwardly before finally going to join him to begin the mission. Dinah and Batman looked on as the ship took off, hoping that this would help to restore Itachi's friendliness and trust in his friends.

* * *

"We're right above the border of Qurac and Bialya. A border that the Bialyans are in the process of ignoring." Itachi said as he saw multiple tanks being driven into Qurac territory.

"There's no opposition. It looks like Harjavti really is in bed with Bialya." Conner noted.

"I wouldn't expect opposition here. It's just an animal sanctuary." Robin said as he looked at the area via his gauntlet. M'gann peaked over and saw the name of the sanctuary there were at. She saw that it was the Logan Sanctuary from one of her favorite television shows.

"Guys, the tanks have caused a stampede and civilians are in harm's way." Wally alerted them. A woman and a small boy were at risk.

"We have to help them," M'gann suggested. Itachi kept a calm head about the situation. After looking at Robin for confirmation, they both silently decided on the same plan. Itachi put on his mask and got ready to take action, "This may be off mission…but prepare for deployment. Use stealth mode because if the Bialyans figure out that we were the ones who hit them, it becomes an international incident for the League, which is already on thin ice thanks to Wrath blowing several holes in Gotham."

They group exited the ship and began to aid the civilians. Robin, Miss Martian, and Kid Flash used their abilities to halt the incoming tanks to a stop. The soldiers tried to get out and go on, but Itachi was there to intercept them all. Miss Martian and Kid Flash used their perspective powers to remove the helmet and eyewear of all of the soldiers so that Itachi could place them all under a genjutsu that turned them all around and made them run until their feet bled. Robin helped by using smoke bombs to hide Itachi's presence from them so that it would be easier to trap them. Connor protected to woman and boy from the stampede by using a wildebeest to divert the others. The oryx that the pair were defending ran off in fright and was almost trampled by the stampede, but M'gann saved he animal just in time.

"Are you both alright?" Wally said as he and the others went to check on the pair. The boy jumped up and down in excitement from being saved by both Robin and Kid Flash. M'gann returned the oryx to the young boy. His excitement halted when the Crow made his presence known.

"We diverted the Bialyans around the sanctuary. You should be safe now." Robin said to put them at ease. Itachi wasn't as sure as his teammate though. He knew that retaliation would be coming. When Itachi saw the woman he noticed that something was vaguely familiar about her. That worried him since he was sure he'd never met her before, but his eyes don't like. Itachi never forgets a face. It finally clicked with him once M'gann reappeared.

"Hey M'gann, the coast is clear. You don't have to be in stealth mode anymore." Wally said to his teammate. M'gann slowly revealed herself and gave out a nervous hi to the pair. The boy looked at her like she was the coolest thing he had ever seen before.

"You may have made things worse. The Bialyan border crossings are a way of life out here. Usually they wreck the fences and move on. Engaging them could have made us a target." The woman said while scolding the heroes. The boy chided her for her rudeness which caused her to ease up, "I'm sorry. I should be thanking you. This is my son, Garfield. I'm-"

"Marie Logan! I can't believe I'm actually meeting you in person." M'gann said excitingly as she had just met he biggest idol.

Marie ran to the wildebeest that Connor threw down and check on his health. Conner saw the limping animal and apologized. Marie needed to take the animals to get checked on. M'gann offered the services of the males to do that. She just wanted to spend time with her hero. Itachi wanted to finish this mission as fast as possible.

"M'gann. This isn't a part of our-" M'gann turned to plead with her leader to give her just a little amount of time with her idol as Garfield pleaded with his mother. They both put their hands on their hips and said fine.

Garfield ran with joy as he was among the company of famous heroes, with the exception of Superboy and Crow. Superboy he had heard little about and Crow he had heard a lot of violent things about. Regardless, Garfield retrieved his monkey, much to Conner's chagrin, and showed them his house.

"So, pretty weird about Miss Martian and my mom, huh?" Garfield said which confused most of the boys.

"What do you mean?" Conner asked, Itachi saw that this was unavoidable and answered for Garfield, "He means that Miss Martian looks exactly like his mother. Almost as if they were twins."

"Yep, she looks exactly like Marie, expect greener. Especially back when mom was a TV star; Hello Megan." Itachi shook his head and inwardly sighed at this. He saw the cogs beginning to spin in the minds of the others and knew that M'gann's secret was in trouble.

"Wait, Hello Megan is a TV show?" Wally asked,

"I just thought it was something she said all the time." Robin concurred.

"Yeah, on the TV show. It was way before we were born though. There's only one season and you can't even find it online. My mom should have a tape somewhere around here." The boy said while he began searching. Itachi really hoped that the tape wasn't found. It was distractions like this why he didn't want to go on this mission.

Elsewhere, M'gann was busy repairing the damaged fence for Marie Logan. M'gann was giddy in trying to ask Marie what it was like to be Megan from her favorite TV show. Marie didn't exactly know how to answer that so she settled on being young and fun. M'gann began to ask Marie about one of the episodes, but Marie stopped her before she got ahead of herself.

"Hello Megan was a job. The person you saw on TV isn't who I am." She said much to M'gann's disappointment.

Back at the house, Garfield has finally found the tape of his mom's old TV show. Just as he was about to play it though, Conner heard an aircraft coming towards them. Itachi instructed Robin to stay back and watch over Garfield. Robin didn't like being a spectator and told Garfield to stay put as he joined guys went to investigate.

They came outside to see that there were three jets that were heading towards them. The jets opened fire at M'gann and Marie when they spotted them. Itachi quickly ran to protect them by using his Susanoo as a shield to deflect the bullets.

"Where's my son?!" Marie asked with fear and concern. Itachi looked and saw the jets flying past them before answering, "I had Robin stay inside to protect him."

"Really because Robin is outside right now with us," Itachi saw that she was right. Robin had left the boy and indeed joined the others. This did not sit well with Itachi, "Why aren't you with Garfield?"

"It's okay. I ordered him to stay inside." Itachi couldn't believe what he had just heard. Eight year old boys don't follow orders from their own parents, let alone a complete stranger. His mother seemed to voice what Itachi was thinking.

"Mom! It's okay. I got the animals out!" Garfield said all the way from the barn and away from the spot Robin told him to stay. One of the jets came towards the barn Garfield was in and shot the nearby oiler rig. The explosion sent Garfield airborne and gravely injured him.

Itachi thought fast and leapt to catch him before more damage was done to the boy. When he caught him, he saw that Garfield as in bad shape and wasn't even conscious. The others gathered around as Itachi put Garfield in his mother's arms. Robin felt so guilty and was about to take the blame, but Itachi beat him to it.

"This is on me. I got your son hurt. As the leader, I failed to protect him." Itachi said with as much remorse as he could muster. Marie glared at Itachi with rage filled eyes, "I told you there would be consequences."

"There always are." Itachi said as Marie took her son back inside. Robin was about to speak to him but was cut off by Itachi, "Robin, can you go inside and look after them? I'm ending this."

Robin nodded his head as he went to join Marie and Garfield. Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and prepared to end this madness. He weaved the hand signs for his Flame Slower Jutsu and prepared to fuse it with his Amaterasu. The newly formed jutsu was devastating, "Fire Style! Blaze Barrage!"

A giant black fireball was shot into the sky, well past the fighter jets. At first, it looked like Itachi had missed, but in reality he did exactly what he was aiming for. Once the fireball got high enough it dispersed into several smaller black fireballs that were all aimed towards the jets. The sky was colored a deathly black as the black flames rained down like a meteor shower that destroyed everything in its path. The jets were all obliterated by the shower of flames. Just before the flames reach the Logan's house, Itachi summoned his Susanoo and Yata Mirror to shield everyone from it. M'gann, Conner, and Wally all saw that this was another way that Itachi was beginning to change. He was acting just like he did after the Uchiha Massacre; violent and ruthless towards his enemies. It almost scared them in a way.

Itachi purposefully aimed the flames in one concentrated spot so he could use his Yata mirror to deflect the unnecessary parts, but still he knew that this was a jutsu to be used light for it could cause great damage if used recklessly. He deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan and went with the others to check on Garfield's condition.

* * *

Carson was still living at Carla's house with her brother James. Their apartment was still under construction. All of the recent chaos in Gotham was starting to weigh on the girl. She wished to go back to a time where she didn't have to worry about people getting kidnapped or dying in explosions. A time where it was just her and Itachi.

She sighed outwardly at the thought of him. Itachi has been missing for over three weeks now and she hasn't heard anything that would indicate that he was okay. James saw the look in his sister's face and looked down. He knew his sister was in love with Itachi and he knew that Wrath was on a mission to kill him; a mission that James put him on. If Carson ever found out that he was responsible for Wrath, she'd never forgive him.

"Hey sis, you're doing it again. I'm sure your boyfriend is fine so can you at least try to watch the game?" James said to snap Carson out of it. Carla walked in and knew how this was going to turn out as she got ready to mimic her young friend and ward.

"First off, he is not my boyfriend. He's just a boy that's my friend, but not my boyfriend. Second, the Gotham Rogues are getting pummeled by twenty-one points so why bother. This always happens when they're on the road. And lastly, what made you think that I'm thinking about that stupid, stubborn, pig-headed, selfish jerk Itachi." Carson said while snapping at her brother. She frowned as Carla burst out laughing with James.

"You are so ridiculous, Carson. James never mentioned Itachi by name. He only said you're boyfriend. You are the one who brought up Itachi when the word boyfriend came up. So you tell us why that is?" Carla said as she just trapped Carson.

"Um…um…the game! Wow, The Rogues just might make a comeback! This is why you keep watching till it's all over." Carson said while trying to change the subject. She also bowed her head to hide from blushing.

"I honestly don't know what you see in the guy who missed our mother's funeral despite you and him being so 'close'. Him leaving is probably for the best. You can find guys that are a lot better than Itachi." James muttered with spite.

Carson was about to come to Itachi's defense when a voice interrupted her. And the voice didn't come from Carla, "I completely agree. She can find guys a lot better than Itachi."

The three of them looked up to see Itachi in the room and Carson immediately ran up to hug him. Itachi slowly reciprocated it as she hugged him harder. Itachi swore that he'd never understand why Carson feels this way towards him. He wasn't the only one.

James was currently scowling at the scene before him. See his sister so close to another guy would have had him in a bad mood. The fact that the guy was someone like Itachi only amplified it. He was also annoyed at Carla for encouraging them like some bad romance movie. But soon that feeling of annoyance was replaced with something else; fear.

With Carson still deep in the hug and Carla lost in her imagination, only James noticed the direct eye contact Itachi made with him. It was then that James made a horrible discovery. The discovery being that Itachi's eyes were jet black and crimson red. It meant that his Sharingan was activated. Seeing his Sharingan revealed to James that the person hugging his sister was not Itachi; it was his clone, Wrath.

After that horrible scene at Argus, James knew that he'd never forget those eyes and now that same psychopath was right next to his sister. Wrath knew that James was at his mercy as he saw the young man start to cry in fear. James didn't know what Wrath had planned, but he knew that he had to move fast or risk losing his sister to him.

* * *

Back inside the Logan residence, Garfield is being nursed from his injuries. Garfield is currently in shock and in need of a blood transfusion now if he was to make it out of this condition safely. The big obstacle with that is the fact that Garfield was an O-negative blood type, the hardest type to match. Wally offered to run him to a hospital, but Itachi shot the idea down.

"Even at your top speed, the quickest hospital is at least thirty minutes away. Even more if we used the bioship." Itachi said with Robin concurring using his gauntlet maps.

"He's running out of time. What's Superboy's blood type?" Marie desperately asked. Robin shook his head. Connor is Kryptonian so even if he did have the same blood type, they'd never be able to access it because of his skin being indestructible.

"I might be able to help. The Crow can attest to the fact that my shapeshifting occurs on a cellular level. I think I can morph my blood to match his." M'gann offered up.

"Please try," Marie begged of the Martian. Itachi didn't like the idea of mixing alien blood with that of a human, but given the circumstance they were out of options. He gave a nod of approval as she walked up to Garfield, "I'll need to concentrate. Please, no distractions."

"Out! All of you out!" Marie ordered of the other heroes. They obliged and stepped out so that M'gann could begin to save the young boy's life. After getting a sample of his blood, M'gann morphed hers to match it for the transfusion. Once she was ready, she immediately began to give her blood.

The males were in the living room reflecting and hoping that this all turned out alright. Robin was visibly frustrated with how the mission has gone so far. He knows that he's made some costly errors.

"Because of me Garfield got hurt. I should have just listened to you, Itachi. And to make things worse, Harjavti steps down tomorrow. He's going to subject all of Qurac to all of this danger. KF, can you find a new station?" Robin vented.

"Sure, which remote is it?" Wally asked as he flicked the television on. Coincidently, the television turned on to a rerun of M'gann's favorite television show, Hello Megan. Most of them watched with shock and discomfort at how similar M'gann looked, sounded, dressed, and acted like Marie from her days on the show. Itachi had figured out the connection a while ago, but opted not to inform the others because he knew of M'gann's insecurity issues and need to feel like she belonged.

"Maybe it's a coincidence," bless Conner's ignorance. There were days Itachi wished he could be that ignorant too. They used the same catchphrases and had the same mannerisms, but the wrinkle that not even Itachi saw coming was that the boyfriend and the show and M'gann's real life boyfriend both shared the same name; Conner. There was definitely no coincidence.

"It's done. All we can do now it wait," Wally quickly moved to change the channel before M'gann could see and get embarrassed. The channel changed to a press conference of Harjavti. Conner was first to notice that Psimon was right behind Harjavti. Itachi wanted to get filled in, "Who is that?"

"His name is Psimon and he has the ability to control people's minds using his psychic abilities. We fought him in a past mission in Bialya back before you joined us. If he was working for Queen Bee then, he must be controlling Harjavti for her now." M'gann explained.

"Oh, I still remember the headache from when he brain-blasted us. Your Sharingan would have been really helpful against him, Itachi." Wally noted.

"If that is the case, then we have to get Harjavti away from him." Itachi stated. Marie came in, and thankfully bared good news, "I think it worked. Garfield has finally become stable."

"Good, because we have our mission. We leave out tonight." Itachi ordered.

* * *

Later that night, the crew flew to Dhabar for the next part of their mission. They were currently in his nightly estate and preparing to extract him away from Queen Bee's clutches. Robin was able to confirm that he was currently alone so now was the perfect moment. The Team dropped down from the vents and showed themselves to Harjavti.

"Where's my daughter? Where's Psimon?" Robin told him not to worry about it because they were here to rescue him. Before they could make a move, Itachi sensed men start to breech inside and quickly signaled for Miss Martian to turn invisible. The men came in just as she left everyone's line of sight.

Superboy wanted to go after her, but Crow stopped him. They needed to protect the president from these men or risk causing an international incident that would leave Queen Bee in power. Crow dropped smoke bombs to begin the attack. The soldiers had no training and began to quickly panic from the smoke. Superboy saw this and punched the closest soldier to him right in their chest. The soldier went flying into the wall and fell into an unconscious heap. Robin started hurdling out batarangs to disarm all of the soldiers as Kid Flash and Crow used their blinding speed to knock them all out and bind them up.

When the smoke cleared, only the heroes were left standing. While this was going on, Miss Martian was in a fight with Psimon in an auditorium. He quickly overwhelmed her with his psychic abilities and began to taunt her for being in the same position as the last time they crossed paths.

"Am I the only one to learn anything from our previous encounter? You didn't think that maybe if you could sense me that I could sense you too? Or that this time I might be ready to use your greatest fear against you? Psimon says show me who, or what, you really are." Psimon commanded as he used his powers against Miss Martian. As much as M'gann fought, she could do nothing but reveal her monstrous White Martian form.

The Harjavti father and daughter thanked the heroes for reuniting them once it was all done. Crow nodded at them before sprinting off to where Miss Martian went with the others following close behind. When they got to the auditorium, they were ambushed by a psychic blast. Even Itachi began to clutch his head in pain.

' _I need to stop his blast. But how? My Susanoo only protects against physical attacks. I need a diversion.'_ Itachi thought as he was close to being subdued like his teammates. Conner, Robin, and Wally fell from the pain but Itachi still stood on one knee. He saw Psimon clap as a white monster revealed itself.

"Psimon says smartly done. Brain-blasting your own team. I had no idea you'd go to such lengths to hide your true self from your good friends. Well, actually I did. It's being recorded for later entertainment. Oh, and you missed one." Psimon revealed.

M'gann turned to see a still conscious Itachi slowly getting back to his feet. Itachi heard the conversation thanks to Psimon mentally connecting him and was shocked that this was M'gann's true form. She lashed out and tried to hit him with another blast, but Itachi used his speed to avoid the hit. Getting angry, M'gann tried to shoot Psimon with a brain-blast. He redirected it and put her in another illusion.

' _I...have to…help…M'gann_.' Itachi thought as he made eye contact with M'gann to go to the same illusion she was in. Itachi found himself back on M'gann's home planet of Mars with her being back in her usual form.

"M'gann, are you alright?" Itachi said as he rushed to her aid. M'gann saw her friend and recoiled away from him, "Don't look at me! I'm a monster!"

Itachi slowed to a walk. When he got to her, he knelt down to look her in the eyes. She was clearly suffering from this, "You know that's not true. I know what a monster looks like and it doesn't look like this."

"Itachi, I…you saw what I really-," She was cut off by Psimon smirking at them, "Oh come on. We all know that's not who you really are. Must you even lie to yourself in your own mind? So, you are the infamous Crow. I've heard a lot about you. Apparently you can control people's minds too. Did you know that your friend was really a monster?"

"There's only one monster here, Psimon. And it's not her. She can look like whatever she wants because with the best eyes in the world constantly peering into her very soul, I have yet to see an ugly part of her." Itachi countered. M'gann looked up through tears as her friend's word touched her heart.

"You saw what she looks like. She even attacked her own so-called friends the moment she thought she was about to be discovered. What else does that? What is she if not an ugly monster?" Psimon asked as M'gann's head dropped in shame again.

"She's human…and she's my friend. Nothing you can say will change that." Itachi answered as he set his sights on Psimon. The psychic leered at Itachi for his answer, "Then you can die with that pathologically lying monster!"

The world started to shift into all of M'gann's worst fears. One by one all of her mentors and friends started showing up into this illusion and all of them started to denounce and reject her because of her true form. Itachi saw the effect it was having on her and fought to come up with a solution.

' _This illusion is just a cheap trick that's showing M'gann all of her fears and all I can do is watch…that's it! I'm in this world too, so that means my fears will be shown too._ ' Itachi thought as he sprang his plan to action.

Psimon was about to close in on M'gann when he was hit with a powerful mystic blast of energy, "Teg yawa morf Nnag'm!"

Now protecting M'gann were all of her teammates. Psimon didn't know why they showed up all of sudden but figured pretty quickly that it had something to do with the Crow. "What did you do to my world?! Why are they helping a monster like her?!"

"This isn't your world anymore. You used your powers to prey on my friend's fears, but I'm psychically connected to her so that means my fears get shown too. You lose Psimon." Itachi answered.

Psimon tried brain-blasting M'gann but she was shielded by Conner, "I'll always protect you. What you look like means nothing to me."

"You deserve to be happy just as much as anyone. You get to choose that for yourself." Wally added with a smile.

"We would never abandon you. You're a part of our family now." Artemis said too.

"Things wouldn't be the same here without you. We need you here." Robin commented.

"Don't ever think that you're too broken to be fixed. You have us to help you when you need it." Zatanna said while helping M'gann up.

"We owe you our lives. You are one of the strongest people I know. So get up and fight with us once more." Kaldur urged as he made way for M'gann to step forward. The last person to speak brought her to tears

"When I look at you, I see someone who has struggled since the beginning to feel accepted. To feel like you're not wrong for being born the way you are. Look all around you. Does this look wrong to you? You don't have to hide who you are or how you feel anymore with us. Let us protect you this time. Let us be you're new family. We love you." A second M'gann said to the original.

"How touching…you can all perish!" Psimon said angrily. Itachi stopped the psychic by fighting fire with fire. Itachi decided to take control of this world and end this madness, "Tsukuyomi! Infinite Darkness Jutsu!"

Everything in the world went dark. Psimon trembled in fear from how cold it got too. Psimon was then attacked by everyone on the Team under the veil of the Infinite Darkness Jutsu. The only light that was from the impact of each blow landing. He started coughing up blood as he felt himself being lifted by his neck. The darkness subsided, but the true threat remained as it was revealed that M'gann was the one holding him up. She was in her White Martian form for emphasis on her point.

"Now…now…my pretty. I know you…don't want…to do something…you'll regret."

"I'm fine just the way I am! You don't know me at all! As long as I have my friends with me I know that nothing can ever make me feel out of place again!" M'gann declared as she psychically blasted Psimon and ended the illusion she was held under.

Itachi fell from exhaustion when they returned to the real world. M'gann went to help him but he waved her off saying that he was fine. M'gann gave him the look Artemis does when she was about to start her don't brush me off speech. As M'gann started tending to Itachi she let her gratitude show.

"Thank you for being there and saying what you said. It was sweet." M'gann admitted.

"It was the truth. Everything our friends said to you was true. Psimon tried to twist you and lie about us rejecting you. Knowing what you really look like changed nothing for me. You're still beautiful." Itachi said as he slowly rose to his feet.

M'gann hugged him for that. She knew because of Itachi that everything would turn out alright for her. She just had one question as she let go. She looked at him and shyly asked, "You said that since we were connected that your fears would get seen too. How come nothing ever came?"

Itachi gave her a reluctant look before answering, "…my fears did come."

"I don't follow. The only thing that showed up was our friends. That's not much of a fear to…wait a second. Are you afraid of us?" M'gann asked having released what Itachi meant.

"It's not you I'm afraid of…it's my own happiness. Back in that illusion, I said that there was only one monster here and it didn't look like you. Well, Psimon isn't the monster either; it's me." Itachi revealed.

"B-but you're not-," Itachi cut her off, "Yes, I am. You saw what I did in my past. You saw what Wrath did to Gotham. A good tree can only produce good fruit and a bad tree only produces bad fruit. An evil monster like Wrath came from me, so that must mean that I'm evil like him deep down inside." Itachi said stoically.

"No, you're wrong. You should listen to our friends. You can choose to be happy. With us. You're not Wrath and you never will be." M'gann said with more determination that Itachi had ever heard in her voice before.

Not wanting to argue about this, Itachi went over to their teammates to wake them up. He hoped that M'gann would drop this subject and, for now at least, he got his wish as she went over to check on Conner. Itachi knew he had to do damage control since everyone wound up fine. He had Miss Martian shapeshift into Queen Bee to make it seem like she was behind the whole plot from the beginning even though they had no proof. It was wrong, but Itachi knew that lying was the best option and apologized to the Team for it.

"Dude, you just helped save a country. That's a pretty big win for your first turn as leader. Well, in this world at least." Wally complimented.

"Yeah, thanks…" Itachi said as he walked away. Wally began to wonder if he had said something wrong again, but M'gann assured him that Itachi just had a lot on his mind was all. She only hoped that he would heed his own advice to her and be happy.

* * *

The Team returned to the Logan residence to check up on them. Garfield is fine and will make a full recovery. They watched on the news as Bruce Wayne and President Harjavti shook on agreeing to help rebuild Qurac. Wally made the smart comment on Bruce knowing just when to be there which got him a hard nudge from Robin. Itachi suggested that Wally go get his souvenir so that they could leave finally. Wally opted for a Hello Megan tape and an explanation from M'gann on it. She looked at Itachi as he nodded for his approval.

"Growing up on Mars was not a happy time for me, but I started watching the broadcasts my uncle sent from Earth to teach us about our sister planet, and when I saw Hello Megan something just clicked. Maybe it was the similarities in our names? Maybe it was because all of Megan's problems would get solved in twenty-two minutes? All I knew for sure is that Hello Megan helped me smile through a lonely childhood so when I came to Earth and had to adopt a human form, I chose you…well Megan." M'gann admitted.

"Which begs the question; what do you really look like?" Robin asked. M'gann stood up and showed her true form, or her version of it. Itachi saw this and felt sad on the inside, _'You tell me to accept my happiness, but you can't even accept what you really look like…'_

Conner walked to her to tell her that she doesn't need to put on a mask for him, which she responded by saying that the mask was for her. She looked at Itachi and felt the sadness inside of him for having just lied to her friends, but she just couldn't bring herself to revealing her truth.

' _I'm not as strong as you are Itachi, but that doesn't mean that I'm wrong about you. Please, choose us.'_ She thought to Itachi mentally. He walked out of the house, clearly giving her his response without saying, or thinking, a single word. As Itachi stepped out he swore that he could feel another presence inside, but let it go since it was probably Garfield. The boy's cellular makeup was changing so Itachi knew that it would take some getting used to.

"Please don't be mad," She said as the others noticed Itachi walk away. Marie told her that she was in her debt for saving her son. Garfield even considered his blood sibling. She smiled and went to check on him, but a got a surprise when Queen Bee was in the room.

"If anything happens to me, or you tell the others, the boy will kill himself. Now, be a good little girl and tell me all about your friend, the Crow."

* * *

Wally, M'gann, Conner, Robin, and Itachi soon returned to the Cave to brief Batman on their mission. He was very satisfied with the results of the mission. He was glad Itachi made it work despite things not going as planned and saw the fire in Robin's eyes to one day lead again. The only drawback was that Itachi still wasn't as cordial as he was before Wrath. Itachi went out for training as soon as the brief was over, not wasting any time.

Artemis, Aqualad, and Zatanna greeted the other members upon their return. Artemis had great news on some tickets she scored to the Gotham Rogues football game next week. They'd all be seated right behind the halftime act too. She planned on inviting her teammates since next week the League would be having their annual meeting to determine new members. Red Arrow and Crow will be the main candidates being discussed. She was hoping to have Itachi come with them so they'd all be together, but he didn't even acknowledge them before leaving.

"He's getting worse. I'm scared that if we don't stop Wrath soon, we'll lose Itachi forever." M'gann said sadly. Even though she knew she wasn't his favorite person at the moment for lying, she still wanted to see her friend be happy.

"He was acting colder. It was like seeing him back with that Akatsuki group back in his world all over again." Robin noted.

"He is stressed. Itachi feels the weight of the world on his shoulders and desperately is trying to rise to the challenge." Aqualad added.

"We'll beat Wrath. Itachi is the best and with us around there's no way we can be beaten. When they fight again, Wrath will be alone but Itachi will always have us at his side. Both as teammates and as friends." Wally declared.

"Yeah, you're right. We'll make him pay for what he did to all of those people. And then we'll get our friend back." Conner stated.

"But first, we come together and watch the Gotham Rogues beat the Vegas Stars. Everyone's gonna be there as a show of solidarity against Wrath and his evil ways. Even popstar Matt Braun will be there to perform. The whole world will be watching it. We already have the permission of the adults." Artemis excitedly said.

"This is going to be great! I've never been to a football game before. Having my first time be with all of my friends is more than I could have ever hoped for." M'gann said now out of her funk finally.

"You're gonna love it, trust me babe." Wally said as Conner rolled his eyes. M'gann smiled at her boyfriend to put him at ease. It worked like usual as the group continued to talk about how exited they were. Itachi was behind the wall listening on their conversation. Itachi knows he's being a bad friend by ignoring them, but he knew it had to be done. Itachi was genuinely happy that his friends had such great plans. He just wanted this Wrath nightmare to be over.

' _I just need to defeat him. Wrath has kept his word about not killing people so I have to keep mine about fighting him. He'll come here and I'll finally end this cycle of hatred in the Uchiha and come back home to Gotham…and to Carson. I'm ready to stop being Crow and return to being Itachi again. And after I defeat Wrath and his accomplice, I'll finally have peace.'_ Itachi thought as he began to train.

* * *

Wrath was alone in the living room of Carla's house with James. The girls had left to get food since they were hungry. It was a blessing for James to hear since it got his sister away from Wrath. Carson and he were inseparable which stung him in more ways than one. Wrath was sad to have Carson leave since he truly enjoyed her presence. It was one of the few times he truly felt normal. James drew his gun at Wrath and was ready to shoot the clone dead.

"What the hell are you doing here?" James asked. Wrath was watching a commercial about the upcoming football game between the Gotham Rogues and Vegas Stars as he answered, "Spending time with Carson. I truly wanted to be around her."

"Why?! I swear if you harm her in any way I'll-" James was interrupted.

"You'll do nothing because I could never harm her. She's precious to me…probably because she's precious to him too. He loves her, just like I do." Wrath stated much to James's disgust.

"You don't love my sister you sick bastard. You don't know what love is! Leave and never come back!" James demanded.

"I know what love is. I know because I've felt what hate is. They're anchors that hold you in place until the chain snaps. Then, you either fly up or drop down. I need Carson so that I can end this and snap Itachi's only chain that's holding him here." Wrath said.

"You want to use my sister against Crow? Why would I let that happen? You'd break her heart if you killed him." James angrily said.

"Because if you don't, then she'll find out who is really responsible for every one of the people that I've killed. You don't want to break your sister's heart now, do you?" Wrath countered.

James started trembling. He didn't know if it was from anger or fear, but it didn't matter because he soon found himself lowering his gun much to Wrath's expectations. Wrath walked up to him so that they were face to face.

"When I'm done, the whole world will be better place. You'll be the hero that you always wanted to be; her hero." Wrath promised.

"Just don't hurt my sister. She's all that I got left." James pleaded. Wrath nodded to the agreement as James put his gun away. He felt awful letting Wrath use his sister to kill the man she loved, but it was Itachi or Carson so he knew that he didn't have any other option. Carson and Carla came back shortly after so that the group could eat. Wrath went back to pretending to be Itachi as he and Carson sat together while watching her favorite show. James looked on in shame while fighting back tears. He hoped that Carson would one day forgive him for his horrible betrayal.

* * *

This chapter is finally done! Wow, it took the whole month for me to write it because of work. Sorry about that. I promise the next one will come out a lot quicker. We got to see a colder, unbound Itachi this chapter. I hope you enjoyed these happy scenes because the next few chapters will get intense. I can't wait to write them. Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, follows, and PMs. I appreciate all of it. Be sure to keep it up! Until next time guys and gals!


	30. War

**Rio Skyron: Oh James has a big reckoning coming for his actions and its name is Carson.**

 **Brave2000: I'm totally with you! Their fight is going to be epic.**

 **Trollzor69: For me to answer that either way would be a spoiler.**

 **Brave2000: That's the point of the Wrath character. To make Itachi question everything he's ever believed in, including his very own morals which you're really going to see in the next few chapters as they fight. Itachi is literally fighting the old version of himself.**

 **Guest: I can't really answer that because it would be a spoiler.**

 **Meito Uchiha: Thanks for the compliment!**

 **Guest: If I decide to write them a happy ending, the wedding suggestion might be a good idea.**

 **Guest: Oh the Masked Stranger will be unmasked by the time the final fight happens. I don't know if I'll have the world watch that fight since they're going to be watching Itachi vs. Wrath but I might change my mind later. Good review!**

 **Guest: Yeah but not in too much depth like he did with the others.**

 **Brady420: We'll just have to wait and see if she forgives him.**

* * *

Wrath stood in front of a mirror and gazed at himself. It was almost like he was peering into his own soul and searching for answers. Today is the day that he had been waiting for since he first formed a thought. He dreamed of killing his other half, Itachi, and today would be the day of their fight. That wasn't what had Wrath in deep thought though. Itachi had become a bit of an afterthought to him, just a pawn in this chessboard called life. It was everyone else that consumed his mind.

' _Mother, father, little brother, Shisui, Jason, Cassandra…and even all of the people I've killed in this bloody crusade to change the world. I wish I could say that I've remained faithful throughout the process, but I'd be lying. Truth is that I doubt and flip-flop almost every day. I know Itachi does too. Before we fight, I need to find out why or I'll always be a bird in a cage.'_ Wrath thought as he left the room went to Carla's living room where Carson, Carla, and James were all waiting for him.

"Geez Itachi, I never took you for a guy who cared about his looks. You were in there forever." Carla commented.

"My apologies, I got lost in thought." Wrath said as he walked towards Carson. She saw the look in his eyes and voiced her concern, "Are you alright? You're acting weird. Well, weird for you that is."

Wrath smiled at Carson to put her at ease. He has spent the past week with her. He'd wake up early in the morning and travel to meet her and, with the exception of work because Ms. Yumi would have been able to tell that Wrath is an imposter, he spent all day with her. He genuinely enjoyed her joyful vibe. She made this hell of a life just a little bit happier for him. It's why what was about to happen later when she discovers the truth will kill him.

"I'm just thinking about how grateful I am for meeting you, Carson. I have not been the best friend to you and yet you still stayed by my side. You never gave up on me. You don't know what that means to me…what you mean to me." Wrath said as he gazed into her eyes.

Carson's breath stopped and she began to blush wildly, "Itachi…stop you're embarrassing me. It's nothing. You already know how I feel about you. And I know that you consider me…precious."

"It's more than that…so much more. By the end of the day, I promise that you'll find out the truth about me…about Itachi Uchiha." Wrath said as he cupped her face.

"At a football game…how romantic. But I'll take it. I've wanted to be with you for a while now. You know that. Are you finally ready to be with me?" Carson asked. Wrath grabbed a piece of paper with an address to give to Carson.

"Tell you what; meet me here before the football game starts. I'll tell you everything there and you will know how Itachi Uchiha feels about you. I want to change the world to a better place. I'll need you in order to accomplish that." Wrath said.

"I'll help you in any way I can, I swear." Carson said as she kissed Wrath on the cheek. Carla cooed at them as James did his best not to throw up. Wrath eventually left while saying that he had to meet with his teammate. Carson and Carla accepted that and got ready for the football game later. James wasn't as gullible and decided to confront the clone once they were outside.

"What are you planning Wrath? Why are you having my sister meet you later by herself?" James demanded.

"She won't be by herself. She'll have you there with her to do whatever it takes to keep her safe. I want you to hear what I have to say too." Wrath replied.

"Why? What's the point of any of this?" James asked. Wrath turned to him with a stoic look, "To test the limit of my abilities."

Wrath then disappeared into the shadows as he left James alone. The young man had no idea what to think or expect from this meeting with Wrath. All he did know was that a lot people's lives may hinge on what happens in this meeting. He had to stop Wrath at all costs. Even if it meant asking for help from the last guy he'd ever want to.

James sighed as he got into his car and began to speed as fast as he could. His destination is Happy Harbor and he prays that he isn't too late for Carson's sake.

* * *

In the Cave, the young heroes were currently getting ready for an afternoon of fun and entertainment. The long awaited football game in Gotham is happening later today so the teens were getting their outfits ready and prepping themselves for some action. They were all sitting in the lounge talking about it. Even though Itachi wasn't going with them, he was there with them. Granted he wasn't actually talking much, but being there at all is progress over the cold shoulder he had been giving them.

Itachi apologized for how he was acting. In truth, he was scared. Wrath is the single most dangerous opponent that Itachi has ever faced. It wasn't because he had overwhelming power because Itachi was confident in his ability to defeat his clone. The fear stemmed from the fact that never in Itachi's life could he imagine facing one man who hated him as much as Wrath does. And he faced his brother after all of their family drama.

That fear turned into anger that was taken out on his teammates and for that he apologized. The Team quickly forgave him since they understood the circumstances. They only asked that Itachi talks to them more about how he's really feeling. It is when impossible situations like this arise to threaten the world that the Team is most needed. They're not meant to operate alone, not even someone as powerful as Itachi. Artemis punched Itachi in the arm as a sign of affection.

"Don't forget that we're heroes too. We can help you defeat that clone. With us by your side there's no way we can lose. Remember that next time you go solo jerk mode on us again." She chided.

"You're right. I've been acting selfishly. I'll put my trust in my friends instead of myself like how I'm used to." Itachi promised.

"Good, now if you really wanna prove that you'll reconsider your position on going to this football game with us. Ninjas got to have fun too, you know." She teased.

"I'm sorry, but someone has to stay here to watch over things in the Cave. Plus, I can't go to Gotham as long as it coincides with Wrath's plans. He'll come here and we'll be waiting when he does." Itachi replied.

"You darn right we'll be. But until that day comes you're gonna have to live a little. Wrath hasn't been active in weeks so just enjoy the time you have left to relax." Wally added.

"I'll relax when Wrath and his accomplice are both defeated. And not a moment before." Itachi answered as he put an end to the discussion.

"Are you sure you're not Batman's clone? Geez, live a little. I guess if that's your choice we'll respect it, but don't be mad when you miss out on all of the fun. The Mayor of Gotham is even supposed to be there to make a big speech on behalf of Gotham. All of his cabinet and the former police commissioner will be there as a show of solidarity. Maybe an appearance from the Crow will help with that picture but since you're so adamant about leaving I guess the world can settle for now." Robin said offhandedly.

"I'm sure the city will survive without me. Go have fun today. Make sure Zatanna has plenty to smile about. She deserves the distraction." Itachi responded. It's true that Zatanna was still grieving from the loss of her father to Nabu so this trip would be a great way for her to get it out of her mind. The others let Itachi be and decided to start heading to the game. They wanted to be there early enough to get all of the snacks they needed before the game started since they knew the stadium is sold out and will be packed. They waved him goodbye as they went through the zeta-tube.

Itachi's smile dropped when they left. He went to the monitoring screen to view all of the world news. It's been pretty quiet since criminal activity has dropped. It turns out that the criminals are just as scared of getting on Wrath's radar as they are of getting on the Crow's. Wrath, though he hasn't killed in weeks, made it quite obvious that he enjoys brutality. The League discovered the corpses of the Suicide Squad. Wrath left them hanging on the Gotham Bridge. It was an obvious ploy to get in Itachi's head. It was determined that the members had been dead for weeks, way before Itachi and Wrath made their deal. But it angered Itachi all the same.

Itachi didn't want to admit it, but he knew he couldn't be mad at Wrath for doing that. There were times where Itachi wanted to do that as well, and back in his world, times where he actually did do it with Kisame by his side. The hidden reason why Itachi was so irked by Wrath is because Wrath reminded him so much of himself back when he was a member of the Akatsuki. He hated himself back then and the feeling hasn't changed over time.

' _But Carson and the other helped me to get over my hatred. I have to protect them.'_ Itachi thought. Just then, the Cave alarm rang and alerted Itachi of an intruder. Itachi assumed that Wrath had finally found him. It would make since to wait till the whole group was gone to try and go after Itachi alone. It's why Itachi was adamant on staying. He put his mask on and got ready to face the intruder, but as he rounded the corner he was shocked by who the intruder really was.

"Crow, I mean Itachi, I need your help." James said as he revealed himself as the intruder. Itachi halted his advance. He turned the Cave's alarm system off and eyes James weirdly, "How did you know where I was?"

"That's not important. We need to go now before it's too late." James frantically said.

"It's very important to me. Don't make me repeat myself." Itachi asked. James gulped before speaking again. He knew he was in the presence of a killer and was very wary of him, "I'm an agent of Argus. We are a covert government funded organization tasked with the protection of the world from metahumans. We know that you and the other heroes reside here."

"I know of Argus. You all deal with some very dangerous projects. Why should I help a group like you?" Itachi asked.

"Because if you don't Wrath is going to hurt Carson. She's with him in Gotham and if we don't hurry it could be too late." James answered.

' _No, no, no, no. How could I let this happen?'_ Itachi thought. He remained calm about this. He knew being irrational wouldn't help Carson at all. Before he could start formulating a solution, Itachi first had to get an answer to one thing about what James said that was really disturbing him.

"The way you spoke of him makes it seems like you've met Wrath before. He looks just like me but you know that he's not me. You even knew to go to me for help. What's really going on?" Itachi demanded.

James knew that this would eventually happen. It didn't make what he was about to say any easier or less scary because of who he was saying it to, "I know because I created Wrath. I am the person responsible for giving him life and if we don't hurry, I'll be the person responsible for causing Carson's death."

Itachi stood there in shock of James' confession. For the first time in years, Itachi had finally come across something that he had no idea how to react to. James stood there with guilt all over his face and Itachi knew that the young man wasn't lying to him.

"All those people…are dead because of you. Why would you create such a monster?" Itachi asked is a quiet, calm tone.

"Because I hated you…I still hate you even right now. But Carson's safety means more to me than my hatred of you. So please help me save her." James begged.

"What did I do to ever make you hate me?" Itachi asked. James looked at Itachi with piercing eyes, "You…stole my sister's heart away from me. She loves you more than her own brother. And if we don't hurry, Wrath with steal her away from you…in a more permanent way."

Itachi steeled his emotions and put his mask on as he headed to the zeta-tubes. James ran after him to catch up, "Wait up! Aren't you mad at me? Aren't you going to hit me or put me in that mind torture stuff that you do? Why are you just walking away and where are you going?!"

"I'm heading over to Gotham. All of that other stuff doesn't matter to me. I only care about saving Carson from that monster. I'll need your help. Do you know where they are?" Itachi asked as he got into shinobi mode.

"I don't know where they're heading, but Carla does. We can go to her house and get the information from her." James reluctantly said.

"Let's go then." Itachi said as the two beamed away in a rush to save a girl that both of them loved dearly. They both had the same thoughts as they left, _'Please be safe!'_

* * *

While these events were transpiring on Earth, the Justice League is on the Watchtower in space and is having an important meeting that pertains to the future of its existence. They are voting on the expansion of its membership and had a whole lot of variables and factors to take in. The members in attendance were Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern (John Stewart since Hal Jordan was on a classified mission), Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman.

They chose today to have the meeting because with the kids all going to that football game in Gotham it made it easier on the adults since they didn't have to worry about them on missions. The exception, of course, was Itachi who was by himself to the last of their knowledge. He hadn't told them about the information James had just revealed so everything was going according to plan as far as they knew.

Black Canary really worried about him. She'd taken an immediate liking to him since they first sparred. While it is true that his past was off-putting to her, she didn't let that cloud the fact that Itachi was a good person at heart and only wanted peace. That's why this crusade to stop his clone was really disheartening to her because she saw how negatively it was affecting him. Itachi has shown signs of improvement in the past week, but the fire in his eyes whenever Wrath is brought up is still very palpable and makes Itachi look scary. But despite all of that, she knew that if his name is brought up that she wouldn't hesitate to vote him into the League. He's more than proven himself to her. She just didn't want to take him away from his friends because as dark as he's acting right now, she's seen Itachi act even darker when he was alone in the Akatsuki after he murdered his clan.

"Our agenda is clear. What's at stake should not be underestimated," Aquaman stated.

"The decisions made today will reverberate for years to come." Superman continued.

"And determine whether or not the world will continue to put their faith in the Justice League." Wonder Woman added.

"Please, take your seat. We have work to do." Batman said at the meeting got started. The members of the Justice League were all seated and ready to discuss important matters pertaining to their future direction as a unit.

"Another expansion of the League could generate another escalation of hostilities from our enemies. No one needs nor wants another Injustice League. Nor Wrath, who is on another level of tyranny." Manhunter started.

"Batman, do you have any leads on Wrath's motives or whereabouts?" John Stewart asked as the acting Green Lantern.

"No, he's fallen off of the grid since the incident with Klarion. All we do know is that he plans on fighting Crow in Gotham at some point and countermeasures have been taken to prevent that from happening." The vigilante responded.

"That is very unfortunate. We need to find Wrath and apprehend him quickly before he does decide to become active again. But we still have the expansion to discuss. Despite legitimate concerns, we still have the option to vote yes or not on all candidates. So I nominate Icon for League membership." Superman announced.

"Why is that? Is it because you suspect that Icon might be Kryptonian like you did with Captain Marvel?" Green Arrow said while chiding the man of steel. Marvel thought it was cool that he was confused for being an alien while Wonder Woman agreed with Icon as a candidate. She did so because he had a female protégé named Rocket and thought that the League could use more female members to the agreement of Black Canary and Hawkwoman.

"The next nomination is The Atom." Flash said. Captain Marvel openly questioned how useful a man like him could be to the League. Batman was quick to defend the nomination, "It's not his size that makes him useful. It's his brain."

"Absolutely! Still we could always use more raw power and Earth has a third Green Lantern, Guy Gardner." Flash suggested. He was quickly shot down by John Stewart.

"No!" He emphatically answered.

"But we could really use-"

"No!"

"What about the members of the Team?" Captain Marvel suggested.

"No. Red Arrow and The Crow may be over the age of eighteen, but the rest of the Team is still too young. We're not inducting children into the League." Superman resolutely said.

"That seems myopic. I have been one with both Kid Flash and Aqualad. Both are ready." Doctor Fate added.

"And what of Zatanna?"

"Absolutely not!" Wonder Woman smirked at the great sorcerer, "That sounded almost protective, doctor. At least we know that Zatara is still in that helmet somewhere."

"Why is Doctor Fate here as a member? You extort Zatara into giving his life to you by threatening to take over the body of his daughter. Not cool." Marvel said while voicing his displeasure.

Now the topic was on said sorcerer, "Should such behavior be condoned?"

"Zatara desires Doctor Fate remain with the League. Even he understands that the world needs Fate to help the young savior sent from God to prevent The Day of Golden Light from transpiring. And that day is almost upon us." Nabu replied.

"How convenient. You get endorsed by the captive host that only you can hear," Marvel said as a jab at Fate.

"What exactly is the day of Golden Light? You mention it a lot along with preparing Itachi for it?" Superman asked. By the way Nabu spoke; it signaled the end of the world.

"It is the sole reason the savior was sent here by God. It signals both heaven and hell to strike this planet, thus destroying all barriers put in place to prevent the Great Convergence." Fate explained.

"And that is?" Flash asked.

"The end of life as we all know it. It is imperative that the Great Convergence never happens. In order for that to happen, we must stop The Day of Golden Light from happening. Or at least that is what the great prophecy sent from God reads once deciphered. Though when it last happened is still unknown, the last Great Convergence that occurred is what allowed the great threat passageway into our realm. We must stop it from happening again." Fate said to the confusion of everyone. This was the first time they were hearing any of this. Batman intervened and decided to table the end of the world talk for another date. They already had enough on their plate.

"Next up, Plastic Man," Captain Marvel laughed at the mere suggestion of this. Flash was doubtful as well considering that Plastic Man had a criminal record. As Marvel laughed, the room got silent as they all turned towards him.

"Maybe it's time we all talked about the elephant in the room. Should Captain Marvel stay a member even though he's really only ten years old?"" Flash reluctantly said.

"He does possess an adult body and the Wisdom of Solomon." Red Arrow added.

"Wisdom does not equal maturity." Aquaman said sounding like he was against the idea.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here." Marvel said as he didn't get why this was an issue now supposed to when they didn't know his true age.

"Then Billy, maybe you should leave until we hash this out," Black Canary said in a softer tone. Batman was against that suggestion. You could tell he had a different level of respect for the hero because while the Canary just referred to him by his real name, Batman gave him the respect of being called by his superhero name, "No, Captain Marvel is a member and is entitled to participate until or unless he is voted out."

"It's not just his age. It's the fact that he lied about it." Wonder Woman retorted.

"I didn't lie…exactly. I just left out the part about being a kid." Marvel said in his own defense. Wonder Woman still considered a lie of omission to still be a lie. She was upset that he left an important secret from them and how no one in the League knew the truth. Well, no one except Batman of course.

"I did," The vigilante simply said as he destroyed her whole argument with just two words. Diana made sure to voice her displeasure of this revelation, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since you indoctrinated Robin into crime fighting at the ripe age of nine."

"Robin needed to help bring the men who murdered his family to justice." Batman replied.

"So he could turn out like you?" Dinna coldly asked. Batman merely replied that it was because he didn't want Robin to turn out like him and after seeing the hell Itachi went through in his life because he had no one to pull him out of the darkness; he'd say that he has validated in his decision.

"You seem to reach consensus that eighteen years is a suitable minimum age for joining the League, yet what of Miss Martian? Though she is a biological adolescent by Martian standards, she was born forty-eight Earth years ago." Manhunter said as he challenged the flaws of this rule.

"What is the deciding factor, chronology or biology? Take Superboy." Red Tornado began. Black Canary agreed. She considered him one of her project along with Itachi so she felt it was unfair to make him wait seventeen years since technically he was less than a year old. Superman got really quiet and his favorite thing to look at suddenly became the floor.

"Last but not least…The Crow. Do we believe that he is a suitable candidate for joining the League?" Batman asked.

"I for one think he's more than suitable. We all know his resume and the things he has accomplished since arriving on this Earth. Saving the kids, saving Gotham, and on instances saving us. Despite his dark upbringing, Itachi has always fought for peace the best way he saw fit. He belongs with us." Black Canary adamantly argued.

"Best way he saw fit? Was that before or after he murdered his entire family and became a terrorist?" John Stewart asked much to the ire of Black Canary.

"You saw his past John. He had no choice. It was either do that or lose everyone. His village planned on killing his family whether he chose to help them do it or not. Plus, he was only a thirteen year old boy at the time. What could he have honestly done differently?" She protested.

"He…could have tried to talk to his parents before doing what he did. He even admitted so himself. Look I like him and I'm grateful that he's saved my knuckleheaded nephew several times, but can you really blame me for doubting whether or not a mass murderer belongs on a team of heroes?" The Flash asked.

"The young savior is not perfect, but God chose him to save us all. Surely that must mean something. I firmly believe that the best course is to vote The Crow in." Doctor Fate added.

"Yeah, Itachi…I mean the Crow is a cool guy. Plus, he gives great advice. You should have seen the way he was able to level with Aqualad when he was close to quitting the Team. He's a natural leader." Marvel added.

"While it is true that Aqualad holds The Crow in very high regards, let's not use that as a crutch to just look past the young man's dark past. I know the extreme circumstance didn't leave him with much choice, but the choice he did make wound up being wrong in the end. The Crow admitted so himself." Aquaman harshly said.

"Wouldn't you do anything to protect the kingdom of Atlantis? That's all Itachi did. I know that killing is wrong, but was it really Itachi who killed his family that day? The way I see it, it was that vile man Danzo who killed them. He just used Itachi as his weapon of choice to do it." Wonder Woman added.

"I wouldn't resort to killing an entire race to save my kingdom. Threats of civil war occur, but I talk with them instead of conspiring to murder them." Aquaman responded.

"You aren't a thirteen year old double spy under the orders of a vile snake like Danzo and you don't love your brother. Danzo used both of those factors against Itachi. I may not agree with what he did but I do not judge him for it. It was an impossible decision." The Amazon said as she recalled the horrible images of Itachi's past.

"I don't judge him for it either, but this is the image of the League we're talking about. We must be extremely cautious," Aquaman said as he felt he needed to clarify his position. He knew the world at large wouldn't be as understanding of him if they discovered Itachi's truth, which is why Aquaman was against the idea of the shinobi joining them.

"I view Itachi as a future pillar that can take the League to a new level. He truly fights for peace and is a man I feel like I can trust. His past doesn't change that for me but I do understand if you all may be put off by him. But if I were going into battle right now I'd have no problem calling The Crow as backup. The Crow is a hero in my eyes and I know the world will view him the same way." Superman stated.

"But what about the argument that if The Crow were to have never come here than the people who died during the Cathedral Incident would still be alive. Wrath only exists because Itachi is a part of this world now. And as much as it's hard for some of you to hear, every person that Wrath kills might as well have been killed by Itachi himself." Batman stoically said. That statement got him a massive glare from Canary.

"You dare blame him for that madman's evil crimes?! Itachi-" She was cut off by the vigilante.

"Itachi blames himself much more harshly than I ever could. It's why he wanted to fight Wrath on his own. He feels like since Wrath was born from him, then he should die from him as well. I know very well how hard Itachi takes the deaths of those people on that night. He trains day and night, he's forsaken his friends, and plunged himself into the darkness that he's tried so hard to climb out of. I don't blame him, but if he joins us and the people find out that Wrath is a clone of him, then the people most certainly will chastise both him and the League. And we are already losing the faith of the people." Batman said as he clarified himself.

"These are very valid points that can't be argued against. Though I tend to agree with Canary that The Crow has proven himself as our ally. If worse comes to worse, we could ways just wait before voting on him. Just until things cool down a bit and we finally apprehend Wrath and his accomplice." Green Arrow said as he tried to cool the tension in the room.

Itachi Uchiha was always a tense subject for them. The first time there was a vote pertaining him, the vigilante was suspended from the Team. Then weeks later he came into the Cave barely breathing and on the edge of death all because he was forced to fight a two-on-one fight that wouldn't have happened if he were never suspended. Canary, along with Artemis, tore the League a new one after that happened. They learned that the enemy is watching and waiting to catch Itachi alone so that they can attempt to kill him. It only took Itachi almost dying for them to learn that painful lesson. Hopefully, things can end differently this time but Oliver always knew that things rarely ended happily in the real world.

* * *

Itachi and James were both back in Gotham. Their objective was clear: save Carson from Wrath. The only problem was finding out where Carson actually was. The only person who knows that is Carla so they rushed over to her house to get that information.

Carla was currently running around her house in a rush to get ready to head out for the football game. She was late because she had to visit her husband, Phil. Even though she hated what he did to Carson and James when he sold them out to Black Mask, there was still a part of her that was still in love with him. She just couldn't let that go no matter how hard she tried to. It was good to see that he was still in good spirits. The judge was lenient on his sentence because of his years as a police officer and because he had so much intel on the rest of Black Mask's operations that he was cut a deal in time served.

They only talked for ten minutes and it was filled with tension. When she asked him why he did it he just simply said that it was for her. She hated hearing that but accepted his answer. Phil asked if she was going to file for divorce. Carla didn't really have a reply and just answered by saying that she didn't know yet. The two went their separate ways after his time was up and she drove back to her house all the way from Blackgate. The drive took longer than normal because of traffic because of the football game. There are going to be thousands of people attending so the streets were completely filled to the brim.

Carla made it back but she knew that with traffic she was going to be late to the start of the game. Just when she was about to walk out the door Itachi and James walked through the door and spooked Carla. She asked them what was going on after she got her bearing back.

"Why are you two here? Itachi, Carson already left to meet you for your little love confession spot. Don't have her waiting too long." Carla teased. Itachi let out a heavy breath of frustration.

"Carla, you need to tell us where Carson went. She's in grave danger." James frantically said.

"She's supposed to be with him. I'm confused. What's going on and I want the whole truth." Carla said as the look on James' face was starting to scare her. Itachi clarified the situation for her.

"Carla, a clone of me was created. The man responsible for the deaths of all of those people in the Gotham Cathedral attack is my clone, Wrath. He's an exact copy of me and is very dangerous." Itachi explained.

"So you're telling me that the person that's been in my home…who's been spending time getting close to Carson…is Wrath? The mass murderer Wrath? But that means Carson is with Wrath now. Oh my God. He's going to kill her!" Carla said as tears began to flow from her eyes.

"He's not going to hurt her because I'm going to be there to stop him. Tell me where he's having Carson meet him, please." Itachi implored. Carla wrote down the address and gave it to Itachi. She didn't know where the address exactly was, but she just assumed it was some secret romance place for Itachi and Carson. Now she's scared that it may end up being the address to Carson's grave.

"That's one of the entrances to Gotham's catacombs. But why is he having her go down there? I guess it doesn't really matter at this point. Come on, let's go James." Itachi said as he turned to leave. James went to put Carla at ease first before leaving, "Don't worry. We won't let that psycho hurt Carson. You should probably stay inside and lock your doors. He knows where you live now."

"Okay, please be careful. All of you had better come back alive." Carla demanded.

James and Itachi left out and started to head to the location. Itachi stopped and turned to look towards Chinatown much to James' frustration.

"What are you doing?! Carson is in danger and unless we get there in time, we just might lose her! So why are you stopping?!" James yelled frantically.

"I need to go somewhere first. I'll meet you there." Itachi said as disappeared in smoke before James could respond. James growled in frustration before heading off to the location of Wrath and Carson. He prayed that whatever Itachi had to do was quick because he didn't know if he could ever forgive himself if Wrath somehow hurt Carson.

* * *

Itachi walked into the Chinatown Mask Shop for the first time in what felt like forever. He wanted to make sure that Wrath didn't do anything to Ms. Yumi while he was away. She may be his guardian, but Itachi still felt responsible for her and wanted to protect her just like Carson.

He stepped into her room and saw she was reading over a note. She looked up at the young Uchiha and gave him the biggest smile he'd ever seen from her. She got up and hugged him to which he happily returned.

"My child, it's so good to see you again. It's been weeks since we last met. No word, no message, I came back from picking up a mask storage to an empty home. Then this Wrath person murders thousands of people and three weeks go by before I see you again. You don't see a problem with that?" Ms. Yumi said while chastising him.

"I know. I'm sorry for worrying you. Things just kept happening one after another and it just wasn't safe for me to be in Gotham." Itachi explained.

"Is everything alright? You seem distressed." She noted.

"It's Wrath. You see, he's my clone. He's dead set on avenging what I did to the Uchiha clan. It's why he killed all of those people in the cathedral. He's deranged and dangerous. Wrath blames the world for what happens and aims to change it with blood. He's threatened those close to me and even has Carson in his grip. I'm going to go try and save her. I just wanted to make sure he didn't hurt you before I left." Itachi explained.

"Oh my poor child. I'm so sorry you've had to go through this. The world has an ugly habit of making people only see the worse in it. I believe it's trying to do that to you by bringing Wrath to existence. Don't let him take you back into the darkness Itachi." Ms. Yumi begged.

"It's too late for that. My mistake was deceiving myself into believing that I could be redeemed from my past. I made friends, good friends, I tried to save people with my gifts instead of lying and killing them, but all that has come from it has been nothing but death. I don't know what the Sage of Six paths saw in me. I'm no hero." Itachi lamented.

"Stop that brooding and stop attacking yourself. You are a hero. You've saved the people of this city countless times and I know that you will do it again. This world may be cruel, but that'll only change with kindness from people like you. Wrath is the embodiment of the darkness in your heart. He is the very part of yourself that you hate. You have to forgive yourself. It's the only way to become who you are meant to be." She advised.

"Why do you believe in me so much? All I've ever done is fail the ones I love the most." Itachi sadly said.

"Because Itachi…I care about you like you were my own son. That is what you mean to me. Itachi Uchiha…my son." She said as sincerely as she could. Itachi was almost moved to tears by her words.

"Thank you. You don't know what that means to me. I'm going to leave now to get Carson and end this nightmare. Please stay safe while I'm gone." Itachi said as they hugged one last time.

"I'll be waiting for your return. Don't let the hate consume you. The Uchiha's are infamous for letting their love turn to hate and allowing it to devour them. The person who wins this fight between you and Wrath will be the person who is finally able to let go of their hatred. The world is counting on you." She said as she released him from the hug.

"I won't let you down. You've been like a mother to me. After the massacre, I thought that I had lost my mother forever. But I still feel her love for me. I feel it in you and you will never know how much that means to me…what you mean to me. I won't let you down." Itachi said before disappearing.

Ms. Yumi gave a sad smile and shed a tear from his words. She truly hoped that Itachi wins this fight _, 'You could never let me down. I'm more scared of what will happen if you feel like you let yourself down.'_

* * *

Carson was currently in catacombs with who she still believed was Itachi, but in reality she was walking with his clone, Wrath. They had been walking through there because Wrath had something important he wanted Carson to hear and he felt this place was the best place to hear it. As they walked, Carson began to notice that the air got colder and colder around her. With the torch Wrath had she could clearly see the decayed skeletons that were embedded into the wall.

"Itachi, what is this place? I never knew you were into skulls." She reluctantly said.

"This is where Gotham began. It was literally built over these catacombs to become the thriving city it is today. Here we are." Wrath said as they walked into a room. They had been walking for what felt like forever so Carson was glad to finally be at their final destination. She was just bummed that she was missing part of the football game.

"This had better be good. I'm missing the big game for this. I hope you appreciate me for this." Carson said as Wrath smiled at her. She noted that the room they were in looked like it was a work study of some kind. It had chairs, a desk, and all kinds of books here.

"You could never know how much I appreciate you. Come on, take a seat." Wrath said as they sat down after Wrath lit the lights of the room up. Wrath noted how good Carson looked in his head. She had on a maroon polo shirt on with a pair of tight-fitted blue jeans on. Her hair was straight and she had just the slightest touch of make-up on. She was truly beautiful to him. He felt bad for only coming here in ha plain button up shirt with an open trench coat and khaki's. He had an armband on his left arm that had the Uchiha crest on it.

"You look beautiful Carson. Thank you for coming." Wrath said. The dim lights in the room were just bright enough to show her blushing at his complement.

"T-Thanks. You look handsome yourself. So…what is it that you wanted to tell me? Something about how you really feel." She started as she subconsciously scooted her chair closer to Wrath's.

"You once told me that you wanted to be with me and that I made you happy. Did you mean it? Do you still feel that way about me?" He asked in a sign of vulnerability.

"Of course I do. Is that what this is about? You dork." She said teasing him. Wrath smiled at her response, "Good, so what would you say if I told you that I love you?"

Carson gasped and stared at him. She had no idea where he was taking this, "You…love me? I…I don't know what to say?"

"Say something," Wrath implored of her. She still was speechless. She waited a long time to hear Itachi say those words, but to hear it come out now and so bluntly was surprising. Wrath thought that she had rejected him and began to get up to walk away when she grabbed hold of his hand to keep him in place.

"I'd respond by saying what took you so long you dork." She said with tears of joy in her eyes. Wrath pulled her close to him as they embraced each other. Then Carson took it to another step as she leaned her head up to kiss him on the lips. At first the kiss was short and sweet, but eventually they deepened it and let out all of the compassion they had been holding back this entire time. When they were done, both of them were breathless. Just then, loud cheering erupted and brought Carson out of her euphoric gaze.

"What was that?" She asked with confusion. Wrath smiled at her confused look, "That would be the crowd cheering because the Knights just scored. We're standing directly underneath the football stadium. We're just behind where the halftime show is going to play in a few minutes."

"How did you find out about this place? That's amazing," She exclaimed with joy. Wrath loved how exited she was, "I just didn't want you to miss the game. You had been talking about it all week long so I looked for a place to confess my feelings for you with privacy while you're still able to enjoy the game. What do you think?"

"You're the best for this," She hugged him again. He loved having her body close to his. She coughed and separated before asking him a serious question, "So…are we like together now?"

"I am yours and you are mine," He responded. She smiled at his response. Carson wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face down to hers, "Kiss me again." She whispered.

They shared another kiss as the crowd above kept cheering. Wrath wanted to stay like this forever, but he knew that this moment was unfortunately only temporary. Wrath was sad because he knew how this would end, _'Please forgive me for what's about to happen. You don't deserve any of this. I just hope that one day you understand why it had to be like this.'_

* * *

Itachi caught up with James just outside of the entrance into the catacombs. He could tell that the James was angry for waiting, but Itachi explained his desire to check on Ms. Yumi and James reluctantly let it go.

"Let's just save my sister already…" James said as they ran through into the dark tunnels. It was a race against time for the two of them. Luckily they didn't have to go through the trouble of figuring out where to go because of the lights that were lit. Itachi leered behind his mask at this, "Wrath wants us to find him. Stay alert, James."

"Yeah I kinda figured that. How are we going to get Carson out of there?" James asked as he wanted to know what the plan is.

"Wrath won't try to harm her. She's just bait that he could use to lure me back into the city. I'm the real target of his ire. Wrath also knows that I'd attack the moment he tried to pull something. The only thing I can't account for is why he chose here to be out battleground. He must have an advantage here but I still don't know what that is." Itachi said with frustration.

"Well you need to think faster because my sister's life is on the line." James chided. James struggled to keep up with the shinobi even though he could tell that Itachi was holding back a significant amount of his true speed. James began to soften his stance, "Why did you let me tag along? How come you didn't blame me for creating Wrath? I deserve it…"

"Blaming you wouldn't have done anything. You did what you felt was right at the time. Though it wound up being a horrible decision that cost a lot of people their lives, I know that it came from your desire to see the world become a better place. It's just unfortunate that you feel like that could only happen if I wasn't in it. As to why you're here with me; my teammates are at the football game right now and the Justice League are in space and out of contact with me. I need someone to be there so that when Wrath and I fight, they can get Carson to safety. It's not too late for you to still be a hero of this story. Just trust me." Itachi implored.

"I see why Carson is so enamored with you. You do have some redeeming qualities, but I still believe that the world is a better place without you in it. I'll help you for now but only for Carson and because I feel responsible for all of the death caused by Wrath. He is the product of both of us, so it only makes sense that it's us that defeats him." James admitted.

"Good, I can feel his presence. We're getting close. Just wait for my signal to grab her and then run for it as fast as possible." Itachi ordered. James nodded his head as the two of them saw light emitting from a doorway. The sprinted into it and saw a sight that they wished they could both forget.

They walked in on Carson and Wrath as they were kissing. The two broke the kiss when James and Itachi walked in. Itachi removed his Crow mask and revealed his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Wrath responded showing his own Mangekyo Sharingan. There was only one difference between the two Uchiha members; Wrath had Carson in his immediate vicinity and Itachi did not. They both knew that Wrath had the advantage and Itachi responded by deactivating his Sharingan.

Carson had a confused look on her face as she looked at the second Itachi that just walked into the room. She also saw her brother with him with further confused her. She turned to Wrath to voice her confusion, "Itachi what's going on? Who is that and why does he look just like you?"

"Get away from him, Carson! That's not Itachi. That's his clone, Wrath, and he plans on using you to hurt him." James shouted.

Carson had a shocked look on her face. She turned to Wrath to see if her brother's accusations were true and the next words that came from Wrath confirmed it for her, "And so it has begun. It's good to see you again, Itachi. I sincerely mean that. I'm glad that you finally made it back home. I have questions for you so please have a seat."

"James is telling the truth? You're…Wrath?" Carson asked with fear and heartbreak in her voice. She was afraid because a homicidal killer was in the room with two of the men she loved more than anything. And she was afraid because the both of those men just witnessed her kiss this killer. She wanted to crawl into a ball and die when she saw Itachi's face. She had no idea what to say.

"I'm not sitting down. Let Carson go so that we can get this fight over with." Itachi ordered. Wrath responded by shrugging and taking a seat himself, "I'm not letting Carson go. She deserves to hear this. Earlier I told her that she would hear the true feelings of Itachi Uchiha, I'm a man of my word."

"What do you want?!" James demanded. Wrath had a stoic look on his face as he began to talk, "I bet you're thinking of some grand and elaborate plan to stop me. Just stop wasting your time, Itachi. I only want to talk. Now, if you really want to fight we can do that but I don't think you'll like where that ends."

Itachi started to notice black sparks of electricity being emitted from Wrath and realized that it was from traces of his Susanoo beginning to form. Wrath smiled at the realization dawning on Itachi's face, "Do you know where we're at?"

"We're in the Gotham Catacombs. Why did you choose here?" Itachi asked.

"Because this is the graveyard of the slaves who built this wonderfully corrupt city. The resting place of the dead, oppressed souls that suffered at the hands of man. Out of sight and mind from the public. This way they never have to acknowledge the horrible acts they committed against them. It is for these souls that I fight because if I don't, nobody will." Wrath answered.

"I thought you wanted the whole world to see when you defeated me and killed me in the most excruciatingly painful way possible." Itachi said while jabbing at him.

"I said that, didn't I? Forget I said that. I was being rash and ignorant. I only wish to talk to you. Besides, don't you realize where exactly we are?" Wrath said. Itachi didn't know how to take that. He was still trying to figure out what game Wrath was trying to play.

"Hello, people of Gotham! How are you enjoying this wonderful game tonight?!" They all heard from above. Itachi and James both gave each other a look of confusion. Wrath simply smiled as he pointed to the chair across from him.

"You sure you don't want to have a seat? You won't be able to enjoy the great halftime show otherwise. We have the best seats of the whole stadium. We're sitting right underneath the rear lower bowl section of the stadium. Aren't your friends sitting there? Interesting, don't you think? It's so loud up there too. Not even the half-kryptonian could hear us. The Martian wouldn't be able to help either will all of the thoughts of thousands of people possibly flooding her mind. Only you can find yourself surrounded by thousands of people and still wind up being all alone, right Itachi?" Wrath noted as more black traces of electricity started to emit from his body.

Itachi got his subtle message; do as I say or I will cave in this catacomb and murder your friends. Itachi knew that summoning a Susanoo down here would kill a lot of people in that stadium and put many more in danger, including his friends. Itachi reluctantly acquiesced to Wrath's suggestion and sat down across from him. Wrath still had Carson close by him so Itachi was still at his mercy. She couldn't even look him in the eye. That's how embarrassed and hurt she was from being used like this.

"How could you use me like that? You manipulated my feelings like some toy or something. You made me feel loved. That's…so cruel." Carson sadly said. Wrath gave her a sad look in return.

"It's true. I did manipulate your feelings of love to my advantage…just like how Itachi manipulated our brother's feelings of love to his advantage. I see why he did it now. You were a great help in getting Itachi to come back to Gotham. Itachi used our brother to his own advantage as he betrayed him and murdered our parents and entire family. Isn't that right, Itachi?" Wrath asked.

Carson was shocked to hear this. She saw the distraught look on Itachi's face as he turned to face her. It was the first time since he walked in that they saw eye to eye with each other. She asked him if what Wrath said was true. Itachi looked in shame as he spoke next, "It's true. I did use him to my advantage. I hurt him like how you hurt Carson. And used him to help further my own agendas."

"Recently, we have been shaken to our core by the threats of a madman by the name of Wrath. He has murdered our men, our women, and our children. He's even murdered those sworn to protect us in his tirade to enforce fear upon us. Wrath is easily the greatest evil the world has ever faced. If we let him continue on like this then he won't stop until he eradicates our very way of life. We must act now!" The mayor of Gotham announced as he addressed the people in attendance. The whole world is watching so they can see Gotham fight back against Wrath with unity and decisiveness.

"The mayor is right. I'm the bad guy who plans on laying waste to your very way of life. It's ironic because when I first woke up, I thought you were the bad guy Itachi. That night I've relived since I first could remember…the night you massacred our entire family for a lie. I've always wondered why they all had to die. It's not like the women and children would have chosen to fight back when they knew they were on the losing side, but you decided that they had to die anyways. Why…why did so many people have to die by your blade Itachi? I just couldn't understand why I had to see my mother and father get butchered like cattle by their own son." Wrath stated.

The room was filled with tension. Carson didn't know how to react to hearing that the man she loved murdered his entire family. She could tell by the guilty look on his face that it was eating at him. Itachi steeled his face as he responded, "I was given a mission by Danzo. My reward was Sasuke being spared. I had to end the civil war before it began. I wanted to save the world from itself."

"I guess if you did it for those reasons, then you didn't really have much of a choice. But was Sasuke spared? Did the civil war end?" Wrath asked curiously. Itachi shook his head, "No, I failed in both ventures. Isn't that why you're here to kill me now?"

"I don't want to kill you, not anymore. The more I think about it, the more I realize how little of a choice you had. It basically came down to the Uchiha making themselves enemies of Sasuke's life. When they did that, the rest was out of your control. I hated you for that. I thought it was the screwed up world, but then I wound up living in that screwed up world. I've met people, good people, that aren't any different from you, I, or and of the Uchiha. They're just born to different last names. I've slept under the enemy's roof, eaten meals with them, and I even fell in love with one of them just like you have. Like you, I truly love Carson and I'm sorry for using her love to help hurt other people. I'm basically doing the same thing you did all those years ago. I'm a hypocrite if I hated you anymore." Wrath admitted to Itachi's shock.

Carson looked at the ground in shame when he said he fell in love. She hated the look of hurt on Itachi's face when he saw them kissing and hoped that he would forgive her for it. Wrath looked between James and Carson before speaking next, "Whether it's defending one's village, clan, or loved ones; we are all the same. We just want to live in our own ideal world."

"You speak of feelings of love and understanding, yet you murder innocent people and hold others hostage. You're scum Wrath and you know it." James said as he insulted the clone.

"If I'm scum, then what does that make you? While you were off in a dark hole conspiring to destroy the Justice League, I was off making real, tangible change with the Suicide Massacre and the Cathedral Catastrophe. Besides, you were the one who created me. In a way, you are just as responsible for all of those people dying as I am. Believe it or not I didn't want to kill all of those people. Just the corrupt ones who let innocent children like Cassandra be tortured and raped by men like the Dollmaker. That church helped to facilitate their suffering and had to burn for it along with its corrupt leadership. Everyone else was just collateral damage that I wished I could have avoided. I got no pleasure from the innocent women and children I killed that night. I'll live with their deaths for the rest of my life...and so will you James." Wrath responded.

Carson's head turned to her brother after hearing that. To find out the church she went to was doing something so deplorable was sickening to her. But what hurt even worse was what Wrath implied about her brother, "Please, please tell me he's lying and you didn't really create this monster? James, tell me he's lying!"

"…he's not lying. I used a sample of Itachi's blood to create him so that we could use him to defend against the metahumans. We couldn't control him though. I never meant for any of this to happen." James said while trying to defend himself.

"But why? What was the point of it? What were you trying to achieve?" Carson asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Carson, James is in love with you. You're not his blood sister, you both know that. Somewhere down the line he stopped viewing you as his sister and started viewing you as his potential lover. You're basically best friends. When Itachi came around, and James saw how strongly you felt about him, he let his jealousy and rage get the better of him and thus I was born. He tried to tell himself it was to save the world, but in the end he's just as selfish and a liar as he claims I am. He's known that I've been impersonating Itachi for a week and yet he said nothing. So I guess that makes him a coward on top of everything else." Wrath stated to everyone's surprise.

"Is…is that true?" Carson reluctantly asked. James nodded in shame. Carson had no idea what to react to more; the fact that her brother created the very being that wants to kill the man she's in love with or the fact that her brother wants to be the man she's in love with. Wrath normally would have been entertained by this, but he only felt sorrow for her having to find out this way, "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. But the world is as cruel as me and Itachi say it is."

"When I came to discover this, I truly started to understand you Itachi. You must have been in so much pain for all of this time. Holding in this much guilt and sorrow is too much for any man to handle. Now that I'm in the position that you were in all those years ago, I can finally understand you." Wrath said sadly to Itachi.

"Why are you doing all of this? What's the point? I thought you hated me, but now you're saying you understand me. First you wanted to fight, but now you want to talk? Which is it?" Itachi asked.

"I just want to make the world a better place. We both do. All of this time, we were basically fighting for the same thing but on different sides. I-," Carson cut him off, "You're wrong! You're all wrong! Killing people won't make the world better; it'll only repeat everything that you think is wrong with it. We have to stop with all of the deaths and lies and talk to each other! Keeping secrets and holding in our true feelings is how this whole mess started. I won't even pretend to understand half of any of this. All I do know is that I'm sick of this tragic hero mess from all of you! You don't have to be as cruel as the world you live in, can't you all see that?"

"Wrath…just let them go. I'll let you kill me and get this over with if you let them go. I don't want to see another loved one disappear. She's right, enough people have died because of the Uchiha. Let this end finally." Itachi begged of his clone.

"I beg of everyone who is watching this, please help me save the world! Join me in this fight against this evil man who wished to see all of us dead. Wrath doesn't know who he's messing with. If you mess with one of us, then you gotta deal with all of us!" The Mayor said as the crowd cheered at him.

Wrath smiled at the man's words as he stood up from his chair. He released his grip on Carson and she immediately ran to Itachi's side. Itachi gave his clone a confused look as to why he gave Carson up so easily. Wrath offered Itachi his hand, "I only want to protect Carson. She's safer with you than me. Stand up, Itachi."

"I know the world must resolve its issues before uniting against Wrath, but I know we can do it. Let's show him that the world is going to beat him and his foolish ideals." The Mayor declared. Wrath smiled at the corrupt leader's words. Wrath knew that the Mayor was just as corrupt as everyone else. He's the one that implemented the unpopular laws that allowed serial killers like The Penguin and Joker to keep getting out because he knew that the people would turn to him for guidance in how to capture them. Supervillains were his one-way ticket to re-elections so he jumped at this opportunity to use Wrath to further his campaign. After this he'd be set for life. Too bad Wrath had other plans.

"You want to protect Carson too. You and I are very much alike. I am your clone so I guess that I shouldn't be too surprised. Though, now I think of you as more of a brother than a template like before. So, big brother, don't you see it too. How similar we are? The love we feel, the darkness we walk to protect it, the guilt of the deaths at our hands, and the possibility of redemption. We both want to change the world for the better and could care less about being a hero to do it. We only do what must be done. It's our father's will passed down to us. He too did what was needed when he accepted the clan's plan because he truly thought it would make the world a better place for his little boys to grow up in it." Wrath said as Itachi reluctantly reciprocated Wrath's outreached hand.

"I, Hamilton Hill, will be the first to join the call for justice for all of those people that were murdered on that night. Please, follow my lead! Let us finally work towards true peace in our world. It will finally be our world once again! And to you Wrath, I have a personal message!" The Mayor began.

"I think it was meant to be this way between us, Itachi. It all began with a choice to tell a lie, so let's end it with a choice to tell the truth. You and I both know that we were born for this. Both agents of change. The only difference between us is the change we chose to fight for. No one willingly chooses to fight in a war of blood, it's forced upon us. Just like with you and father, we too are on opposite sides and forced to fight. But unlike father…and unlike you…I won't stop and doubt myself. Father saw someone he loved, someone he would have to kill in you Itachi order for his change to be achieved, and lost his way. You saw someone you love, someone you would have to kill in Sasuke in order to change the world and cleanse it from the hatred of the Uchiha, but you too lost your way. I see Carson, someone you and I both love and someone I'd have to kill to see my change achieved, but I won't lose my way. The people I've killed deserve to see me follow this through to the end, or else it would have all been for nothing. The oppressed and tortured souls of the dead deserve justice. I will change the world for the better. I will keep moving forward…until all of my enemies are dead." Wrath declared.

Itachi helplessly looked on as Wrath started to emit a black light from his body. Itachi turned to Carson, who was still close by and trembling, and James as he had a look of fear on his face too. Wrath was starting to form his Susanoo.

"Itachi!"

"Carson!"

The room was caved in as Wrath's Susanoo started to form and grow at an explosive rate, leaving Itachi with little time to react. Their fates were all unknown.

* * *

Topside, the Mayor was at the climax of his speech. The members of the Team were actually enjoying themselves, even Zatanna. Conner was distracted because he could swear that he just head people scream, and not in the fun excited way. These screams were in the terrified kind of way. He was about to inform his teammates when the Mayor continued his address.

"Wrath, on this day, I officially declare that as of this moment! For the lives lost on that fateful day by your cowardly attack. We declare-" The Mayor was cut off by as the world bared witness to something truly horrible.

Before Conner could alert his friends of the rumbling ground beneath them, the entire section that they were sitting at was reduced to rubble by the emergence of Wrath's Susanoo. In a fit of power and rage, Wrath finished what the Mayor meant to say, "WAR!"

Knowing that the entire world was watching thanks to all of the video cameras, Wrath's Susanoo let out a monstrous war cry as it completely flattened the stage the Mayor was on with its hardened fist, killing the halftime band that was behind him along with the countless people that died when it emerged from the catacombs and obliterated everything in its path.

It then lifted the Mayor's mangled corpse high up in the air for all to see and summoned a gigantic Shinigami Scythe that bisected the man in front of the entire world. The stadium was now filled with screams of terror. It then turned to the other government officials in the skyboxes and used its scythe to slaughter all of them by swipe across the whole arena. When the deed was done, the Shinigami Scythe was covered in blood and mangled body parts as the Susanoo roared with rage. It eyed the several more thousands of scrambling people it could kill now that Itachi was taken care of.

"I held my end of the bargain and spared these people until our fight. Well our fight has begun! So come stop me if you can Itachi!" Wrath yelled as he continued his rampage on the city of Gotham.

* * *

"If there are no other ideas, here are the candidates for new or continued member ship; Doctor Fate, Captain Marvel, Icon, Atom, Plastic Man, Blue Devil, Red Arrow, The Crow, Rocket, and all members of the Team." Superman said as he listed the names off.

"We've debated origin, gender, size, experience, age, temperament, and background. But what are the fundamental criteria for membership?" Batman started.

"When all is said and done, the question must be whom do we trust. Trust to fight beside us. Trust to have our backs. Trust to uphold the high standards and ideals of the Justice League." Wonder Woman added.

"Time to vote..." The League members all went through the list and voted yes or no on all of the candidates. When it was all done, Batman made sure everything was ratified, "All those in favor of ratifying the results say I."

"I!" Everyone in the chamber said.

"All opposed," No one challenged the results so that meant the meeting was over, "Then we are adjourned."

They all were about to leave when an emergency broadcast was played in front of them. They all watched in horror as Wrath emerged from the ground like the devil himself and with his Susanoo already activated. They saw countless people get crushed and killed by his emergence. Then they witnessed him murder the Mayor of Gotham, popstar Matt Braun and his band, and all of Mayor Hill's cabinet members along with whomever else was in the skyboxes with them. What started as a ray of hope and unity has now become a place of death and blood.

"We have to go, now!" Superman ordered as everyone headed towards the Javelin so that they could fight against Wrath. Before they could get it up and running a huge fire blast completely destroyed all of the spaceships. The Masked Stranger was there to impede their progress.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm the Masked Stranger you've all heard nothing about. I thought it was time I introduced myself. I picked the perfect day too. The day Wrath decided to change the world." The Stranger said.

"This is a secure facility in space. How did you get here?" Batman demanded. He was furious that not only was his city under attack again, but now he had to figure out how this villain found a way onto the Watchtower.

"Oh, well I was invited in. Simple as that." The Stanger said while dropping in front of the Leaguers. Red lightning was already emitting from the stranger's fists. Wonder Woman was in no mood for games, "Step aside and we'll apprehend you mercifully."

"We're going to that city to stop that madman. Now move!" John Stewart ordered.

"You're not going anywhere. Your opponent is me. It's a good thing we're in space because now the people of Earth won't have to hear you scream like how their heard that Mayor scream before he died. Now come!"

The Justice League was now occupied with the Mask Stranger. The Team's status is unknown because they were in the middle of the rubble Wrath caused when he emerged from the ground. Itachi, Carson and James are in the same boat because they were underground when the attack began. The war had begun and Wrath just threw the first strike. Who will be there to challenge him before he kills more people? While everyone was occupied with their individual fights, a hand emerged from the rubble in the stadium symbolizing the first one to rise up and challenge Wrath. But who does that hand belong to?

* * *

That's it for this chapter! It was a long one but I'm happy with the results. There was a whole lot to unpack in this chapter. Wrath tricked Carson into bringing Itachi to Gotham and they all fell into his plan. Have to feel bad for her. She just wants to a normal life. Also there's the revelation of James' feelings. And Itachi walking in on her kissing Wrath had to sting. The war has begun and the bad guys have struck first. Wrath just went straight up slaughtered that Mayor. The Justice League now has to face the Mask Stranger too! I can't wait to get started on writing the response of the heroes. Thanks for all of the love of last chapter. You guys are the best! Keep showing love by hitting follow, favorite, or write a review/PM. Some heavy action chapters are coming up next so stay posted. Until next time guys and gals!


	31. The Death of a Kind Heart

**Andresskorskiruiz: I'm glad you like it! Next chapter you will get your wish.**

 **Kinaki747: Oh, as you'll read in this chapter, the Masked Stranger is both that confident and that dangerous.**

 **Brave2000: I hate one-dimensional villains so I took my time in writing Wrath's character development. As for the Sage question, I only have him referred as God because that's basically who he is in the Narutoverse. There really isn't a divine hierarchy behind it though I probably should establish one.**

 **Rio Skyron: If you thought last chapter was intense, just wait until you finish this one.**

 **Imagine476: Oh yeah! I wanted to show that these aren't your regular run-of-the-mill villains. They are the real deal and will not wait to gloat like others. They will kill if given the opportunity.**

 **Trollzor69: I'm glad you liked last chapter. Itachi can only take so much before the Uchiha blood of his starts to boil.**

 **Ronlol2: He's already unlocked the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in this story.**

 **Coward123: I understand those concerns but I just didn't want to waste time developing his speech and have that take away from the story.**

 **KH fan: Oh, their fight will be epic.**

 **Guest: Shhh, you might spoil the ending O.o**

 **Redflash 2008: I'm happy you think that. Its reviews like these that keep me going.**

 **Animefreak112097: I'll try to get better with uploading.**

 **1968: Oh I can't spoil the fight's ending, but Itachi will definitely make a strong showing for their fight.**

 **writegood: Thanks for that! Yeah, some of the dialogue of Young Justice was awkward just reading it, let alone having to write it.**

 **Ahnjuu: I know my chapter towards the beginning aren't up to par with the latter ones and I do plan on going back to correct those issues. As for your plot concerns, all I can say is that it will all be explained as to why certain characters are more trusting than others when the final saga begins.**

* * *

Fear and terror is what everyone at the Gotham City Knights football game is feeling. They, along with millions around the world watching, had just seen Wrath emerge from the ground with his Susanoo and murder Mayor Hamilton Hill, his entire cabinet, the half-time performers, and countless numbers of civilians in just an instant. Wrath looked on as the people started to run like frightened cattle once a lion emerges from the grass.

Shots were fired at Wrath's Susanoo from its blind spot. He turned to see that it was former Police Commissioner Loeb and his police detail that were the culprits. When they saw the cold, black eyes of Wrath's Susanoo turn towards them they stopped shooting and tried to escape like all of the others. The giant avatar bent its knees and leapt high into the air. Commissioner Loeb and his fellow police men and women were helpless as the giant came crashing down on them, killing almost everyone in that entire section of the stadium.

The camera crew from the surrounding helicopters could see the crushed corpses of the poor patrons that were nearby when the Susanoo landed. The scene was gruesome and pure evil. The Susanoo got back up and started rampaging again as it started hammering the ground beneath it in an attempt to kill anyone that might have survived. Blood started spraying everywhere as its fists would land and rise up again to repeat the action.

First responders started to arrive to try to tend to any survivors they found. Wrath saw this and decided that not even the healers would escape him. His Susanoo grabbed an ambulance truck and threw it as hard as it could. The truck was flung into one of Gotham's banks which caused an explosion that killed even more people. Wrath floated up to the mouth of his Susanoo and weaved hand signs for his clan's most famous jutsu, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The clone shot the fireball at an exit to the stadium. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as people that were trying to escape were burned alive by the fireball. The cameras could see young children screaming while in pain as parents and surrounding adults desperately tried to put the flames out, only to catch fire themselves only from the sheer heat of the flames. Wrath wanted the world to see just what was done to his family. How they all died without mercy no matter how young they were.

A trio of F-35 Lightning fighter jets was seen approaching the city and it was clear that Wrath was their target. They each fired a pair of missiles towards the behemoth with the intent of killing it. Wrath used his Hedoro ability to create a giant wall that blocked the missiles from a direct hit. He then used his Shinigami Scythe to knock them out of the sky, killing all three pilots. Two of the aircrafts landed in the Gotham River away from any civilians, but the third one landed right in the middle of the city. It took out a Stagg Industries building that was still under construction and killed all of the construction workers that were on it along with the people on the ground level that were hit with debris from the crash.

"How many people have to die before you show yourself, Crow?!" Wrath yelled as his Susanoo started treading deeper into the city. As he left to cause more damage, a shining light could be seen emerging from the devastating wake of the football stadium. The hand that emerged from the ground was covered in a green light before all of the surrounding debris was blasted away. The hand belonged to none other than Hal Jordan, the Earth's Green Lantern. He had a bunch of civilians that he was protecting thanks to his ring with him. Seeing all of the destruction and death that Wrath caused deeply angered Hal, but Hal knew that before he could go after him that he would have to check for survivors.

Hal flew the civilians to ground level so that they could be safe and flew back up to scan the debris. He also tried to contact his teammates but got no answer for some reason. Hal found a few survivors, but mostly his findings just wound up being corpses. Thankfully, Hal eventually did find something that made him start to have hope again. He used his powers to clear debris and reveal that the members of the Team had indeed survived Wrath's ambush. The young heroes were all a little beat up, but very much alive thanks to Conner and M'gann's quick thinking.

Though Conner wasn't fast enough to verbally alert his friends, thanks to his strong mental connection to M'gann he was able to alert her of the rumbling below. She then used her powers to faze everyone through just as Wrath emerged and collapsed the entire section on top of them. Though none of the debris hurt them, the impact from the shockwaves of the Susanoo's emergence did knock the wind out of them. M'gann was the most exhausted because fazing that many people at once was not something she was used to. The reason they didn't free themselves from the debris was because they didn't know the status of the rest of the stadium and didn't want to cause more damage.

"Are you all okay?" Hal asked with concern.

"Outside of some cuts and bruises, we're all fine. My God, what happened to my city?" Robin asked as he looked around and saw the death and destruction all around him. He then heard a savage yell in the distance before an explosion occurred.

"The short answer is Wrath happened. He came out of nowhere and started killing everyone in sight. Mayor Hill is dead. Just before a piece of debris landed on top of my section I saw him get bisected in half by Wrath's Susanoo. And from the looks of it, the Mayor wasn't his only target." Hal sadly noted as he remembered seeing all of those bodies before he found the children.

"This…monster…he has to pay!" Robin said with so much rage that he was shaking.

"We're going to get him. We won't let him get away with this. I'm calling Itachi." Artemis said as she went to call her friend.

"Green Lantern, I have a question. Why are you here? I thought that the League was supposed to be having a meeting about voting new members in." Aqualad asked.

"They are. I was sent here in secret to serve as a precaution should Wrath choose to use this venue to attack once again. The Mayor, his cabinet, a beloved world famous pop-star, and even the former police commissioner all in same place at the same time would be too great of an opportunity to pass up on. Unfortunately, we were right. I just didn't expect him to be so bold about it. To murder the Mayor so publically and brutally in front of the world is something I never thought he was capable of. How many people just died because of that miscalculation?" Jordan sadly replied.

"You couldn't have known what that madman was thinking. Have you tried contacting the League?" Wally asked.

"No good. For some reason they aren't answering my coms-unit." Hal answered.

"They aren't the only one. Itachi didn't pick up either. I don't like this one bit." Artemis said with frustration.

"But why wouldn't he pick up?" Zatanna asked.

"It might be because Wrath already got to him. Think about it. We're all here which means that Itachi was at the Cave all alone. Who's to say that Wrath didn't go there first to fight Itachi and then come here to destroy his city. It was a possibility the League foresaw when we okay'd you all to go to this football game. We were hoping that the opportunity to face Itachi alone would be enough to draw Wrath out of Gotham. The fact that Itachi isn't answering could mean that he…he might be…dead." Hal regrettably said.

Artemis struck Hal as the rage she was feeling was close to boiling over, "You used my friend like he was some type of bait to catch a fish?! What type of heroes are you?! He…Itachi can't be…"

"We don't know that Itachi's dead. Please, don't cry like that." Wally said as he tried to stop her from feeling the pain that she felt.

"It was our only chance to get Wrath out of Gotham. Even though we didn't tell Itachi the intent of our plan, we all figured that he would catch on to it eventually. That's probably why he chose to stay behind and not tell you guys. He wanted you all to have fun and be normal kids for once." Hal said as he defended the plan.

"How can we enjoy our lives when we know it might have cost Itachi his?" M'gann said with tears in her eyes. She had so much she wanted to tell Itachi, but not she feels like she'll never get the chance.

"I don't know if Itachi is really dead, but I do know that I plan on making Wrath pay for this." Conner announced.

"With the Green Lantern on our side we'll take that creep down and avenge all of these deaths." Robin said as he agreed with Conner.

"No, you aren't fighting Wrath. I'll take him on by myself." Hal declared.

"We are not sitting on the sidelines as that monster destroys MY city. We're fighting with you." Robin said as he went against Green Lantern.

"No, you aren't. Stop being children. Wrath would kill you all. If I go into battle with you my focus would be split between fighting him and keeping you all safe, it would only end badly. It's why Itachi didn't want to fight with you. Help this city in a different way by tending to the wounded survivors and getting them to safety. If you truly cared about Itachi and his will, you would throw away your selfish desires and help the people of the city Itachi loved. You all owe him that." Hal resolutely said as he shut down all of their defiance.

"But if you face him on your own, Wrath might kill you." Zatanna argued.

"That might be true, but it's my duty as the Green Lantern of this quadrant to defend this planet from all threats. The only duty you all have is to live…so live. Don't die in this graveyard of a city." Hal urged.

His message got to the young heroes as they all accepted his words. Artemis wiped her tears and said a silent prayer asking for her friend to still be alive. Zatanna used her magic to get them all into their hero costumes. They gathered around to wish Hal Jordan good luck before he left.

"Thanks guys. I won't let you, the people of this city, or Itachi down. Wrath crossed the line when he messed with one of us. Now the full power of the Green Lantern will come down on him. In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, behold my power…Green Lantern's light!" Hal chanted as he felt the power of his ring grow.

The others watched in awe as Hal flew into the air in a burst of green light as he headed towards Wrath. They truly hoped that the hero would succeed in finally ending this nightmare.

* * *

While chaos was transpiring in Gotham, another battle was being fought in space. The Justice League is currently in the midst of the great threat that Itachi was sent here to fight, The Masked Stranger. John Stewart decided not to waste time so that they could protect Gotham from Wrath and shot an energy blast from his ring. The Stranger merely lifted up a red lightning filled hand to completely deflect Green Lantern's blast. The Leaguers watched as the power slowly died down into nothingness.

"Why in such a rush? Most people aren't in such a hurry to die." Then in blinding speed the Masked Stranger sprinted towards the heroes with deadly intentions. Green Arrow tried shooting an arrow at the villain as a deterrent, but it was useless. The Stranger changed levels to avoid the arrow and used lightning to electrify the floor beneath them. Everyone felt the full brunt of it except for Superman and Captain Marvel. They were only barely affected.

The Stranger went for Hawkman first by kicking him into a nearby wall. Hawkwoman tried to retaliate but was still being affected from the initial attack. Hawkman suddenly noticed a piece of paper that was on his chest as it began to spark. The Stranger had placed a paper bomb on him.

"You're done for." Hawkman, while still lodged into the wall, was helpless as the bomb went off. The winged hero was out of the fight and rendered unconscious.

"You'll pay for that!" The Stranger ducked underneath a swipe of Hawkwoman's mace and retaliated with a powerful jutsu.

"Good, I'll use your life as currency then. Vapor Style! Steam Blast Jutsu!" Searing hot steam was then emitted from every pore of the Mask Stranger's body which resulted in the surrounding heroes being blasted away. Hawkwoman got the worst of it since she was closest. One of her wings had been almost completely seared off from the blast. Red Tornado used his wind powers to smolder the flames, but the damage to her wing had already been done.

Superman sped ahead and delivered a powerful shot to the Stranger's sternum. It sent the villain airborne, and with Captain Marvel waiting, the villain was hit with a two-handed hammer strike back down to the ground. The Flash sprinted to try and stop the Stranger from recovering. The Stranger thought fast and put a hand to the ground to unleash another jutsu.

"Fire Style! Heatwave Jutsu!" A blistering heatwave was sent throughout the ground which was so hot that the floor around the villain started to melt. The Flash couldn't react in time and slid past the Stranger and right into the wall. Before the Strange could capitalize on the downed speedster, a whizzing sound was heard in the air.

The Stranger quickly turned to see a pair of batarangs that were aimed directly at the villain. The Stranger then heard the demi-god in Wonder Woman rushing into the battle to give Flash time to recover. The villain caught the Batarangs and used chakra to infuse lightning into the weapons. The batarangs now had two new targets; Flash and Wonder Woman.

The first batarang was flung at Flash, who was still catching his breath, and the other was tossed behind to greet the charging Amazon coming from the rear. The result was Wonder Woman being caught in an up-close electric explosion that sent her flying. The batarang that was heading towards Flash was only a few meters away when a blast of heat vision from Superman was able to disintegrate it before it hit its mark.

The Stranger was about to make another move but was stopped when Martian Manhunter emerged from the ground and put the villain into a powerful bear hug. The move caught the Stranger by surprise and left quite the impression on the villain.

' _I guess the warm-up's over. Time to get serious,'_ The Stranger thought as chakra began to build up within the villain's body. Manhunter quickly motioned for his teammates to help him restrain the evil mastermind.

"They can't save you. Lightning Style! Chakra Mode!" The Masked Stranger was then wrapped in a layer of lightning chakra. The aura being emitted from the technique is so intense Manhunter's arms were starting to burn just from touching it. The aura around the Stranger was a jagged, flame-like chakra coat covered in red sparks of lightning that pulsed at intense frequencies. The muscle mass of the Stranger was just slightly increased, but the neural and cellular activity within his body were greatly enhanced so that the energy output was now almost limitless.

The Stranger demonstrated the abilities of the cloak by increasing the ferocity of the lightning cloak and electrocuting Manhunter until the Martian fell to his knees. The Stranger then vice gripped both sides of Manhunter's head before ominously speaking.

"I hear you like to mess with people's brain. You go in and out as you please without any thought or care to what damage you could cause them. Well, let me mess with your brain now and see what happens once it's fried. Lightning Style! Hands of Torture Jutsu!" The Martian then felt an intense wave of pain as the Stranger emitted a high output of lightning into J'onn's brain. Soon that pain turned into agony and horror everyone watched J'onn's head catch on fire.

Everyone was helpless as the alien hero stopped screaming and fell to the ground with a loud thud. He'd ceased moving and everyone feared the worse. It wasn't until Superman focused his hearing ability that he was able to determine his friend's status, "He's alive! He's heart has a faint heartbeat."

"You'll pay for that!" Canary said as she unleashed her sonic screech. The Stranger found the feeble attack amusing. Flash sprinted and got his friend up before the blast hit them both. Canary made sure her blast got the villain away from J'onn before she went full throttle with it. There was only one problem; The Stranger had vanished.

"Where'd he go?!" Aquaman asked as he searched the surrounding area.

"I'm here." The Stranger said as Canary found herself being choked. She had no idea how the villain dodged her attack so quickly, "H-How?"

"Don't you know that lightning is faster than sound? I bet you will after this." The Masked Stranger taunted before viciously crushing Canary's throat. Oliver feared the worse for his lover as blood started pouring from out of her mouth and she began to make painful sounds as she tried to speak.

"No more sonic screams from you." The Stranger dropped the blond as Batman, Green Arrow, and Aquaman rushed in for attacks. They were determined to make the villain pay, but the Stranger had the perfect jutsu to counter them with.

"Lightning Style! Flash Pillar!" A great bright flash of light was emitted from the Stranger's body that was bright enough to blind all of the would-be attackers. They all stopped in their tracks before they all were simultaneously struck by their opponent. Though Aquaman was still able to move after the attack, Batman and Green Arrow were not so lucky. They both had several bones broken from the attack and were barely still conscious.

"Time for the real target." The Stranger sprinted over to Superman to get the jump on him as well. The Stranger powered up his Red Lightning ability in his right hand and swiftly connect with Superman's face with a skillfully angled right cross to the chin of the man of steel. The hero was able to get a hit off as well, but it wasn't nearly as clean as a hit that The Stranger got off. Superman made a hole in the wall from how hard he was sent crashing into it. The Stranger wasn't without damage either though.

' _He's fast. He managed to hit me in the left shoulder and broke the bones there. He probably would have caused more damage if it wasn't for my cloak. Good thing my healing is also increased so I should be as good as knew in a few moments, but I don't have that much time left to spare you Wrath. If this fight doesn't end soon, then I'll die. I only have a set amount of chakra to use and once it's gone, it's gone for good. There is no getting it back by natural means thanks to that damned Sage of Six Paths. Let's speed this up then.'_ The Stranger thought while weaving hand signs. A combustible flame appeared in the Stranger's hand that was so hot that sparks were could be seen being emitted from the flame. The flame was getting larger and wilder as seconds passed.

"I hear they call you the Man of Steel. It's too bad that steel melts just like everything else. Fire Style! Solar Tsunami!" The flame was aimed at Superman as an inhumane amount of fire was shot at the hero. Not even Superman could withstand that searing heat that he felt as his skin started to boil from it. The surrounding metal around him liquefied from the sheer heat being emitted and fell on to Superman, causing more pain for the hero. The heat was so great that none of the heroes could move from it, and none of them were even in the direction of the flame.

Once the fire died down, the end result was Superman being incased in the metal that fell onto his body. It hardened into a makeshift metallic prison that held the hero in place. The other's looked on in horror at what happened to the world's greatest superhero.

"Now he really is a man of steel. So who's next?" The Stranger asked before turning to face the rest of the heroes. Only Green Lantern, Aquaman, Doctor Fate, Wonder Woman, Flash, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel.

"Come do that to me!" Wonder Woman said as she took up the challenge. After seeing what had just happened to her friends she could honestly say that she felt the fury of Hades flowing through her.

"Me too! Lightning doesn't affect me so let's see what you got!" Captain Marvel added as he joined her.

"They're not alone! We all won't stop until you're defeated!" Flash said as the others stepped up to join the in on the Justice League's last stand.

"Interesting. A robot that controls wind, a space patrolman that holds one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, a speedster that's so fast that he can even bend time, an ancient wizard, a king with the trident of a god, and two beings that actually are gods. I like my chances." The Stranger said as the lightning cloak surround him flared and started emitting even more power.

* * *

Back in Gotham, Artemis and Robin were currently searching through the rest of the rubble as medical personnel were trying their best to save as many people as possible. They were hoping that somehow people were able to survive this sneak attack. They the likeliness of that would be slim, but it was the only way they could feel like they were actually doing something important.

"How did this all happen? One second we were all having fun and watching a football game, the next everything goes to hell and Wrath destroys everything. And why haven't the Justice League gotten here yet? We need them." Artemis said while venting.

"We have to stay strong. I know it's tough. I've seen more than a few friends amongst the corpses here, but we can't breakdown. Itachi would have wanted us to finish the mission no matter the losses." Robin said in response.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just hard. I've never seen this many bodies all at once before." Artemis sadly said.

"Itachi grew up in a world where tragedies like this were the norm. I see why he's so distant. Scenes like this damage the soul. Let's go. There's nothing more we can do here, but there may be people that we could save elsewhere in the city." Robin suggested.

They hopped down from the rubble they were just at to leave to the stadium and provide support to the other damaged areas of the city. As the heroes reached the ground floor they could feel rumbling happening from underneath them. They both asked what was going on, but were answered when a giant pair of clasped orange hands emerged from the rubble they were just at.

The heroes then saw the hands open to reveal three people hidden inside. The three individuals inside are Carson, James, and Itachi. Artemis and Robin quickly ran to join up with them as Itachi's Susanoo faded away and the three dropped onto the ground. The teens quickly saw that the three of them were all still alive thankfully, though all were showing signs of being injured.

"Itachi! What happened? And why are Carson and James with you?" Artemis said as she went to check on them. As she got close to Itachi she saw how badly he was injured, "Oh no. Itachi, your arm…"

Itachi's right arm was covered in blood and was a very scary color of blue. Itachi looked up at his friends as Robin quickly alerting the others through M'gann's psychic link. He observed all of the carnage and destruction around him and gave a sad sigh.

"It was Wrath. He did this. He tricked Carson into meeting up with him underground because he knew James would ask me for help. I came and we talked. I couldn't fight him because we were right under you and he used the threat of summoning his Susanoo to kill all of you. And to think that we actually understand each other now. It only cost all of these people their lives. Before he summoned his Susanoo, he had my hand in his. When the transformation began it stretched my arm and caused a lot of damage to it. The joints and muscles in my arms are in tatters. I was able to summon my Susanoo just before he caved us in to protect Carson and James. Once I was sure that no one was above us I took us above ground. But to see all of this and to know it's my fault…I wish I had just stayed dead." Itachi sadly said.

"No, this isn't on you. It's Wrath who is responsible. Green Lantern is going after him as we speak. He was in the arena when the bastard attacked. The League put him hear just in case, but nothing was stopping Wrath. He murdered the Mayor in front of the entire world and then killed all of those innocent people. We saw so many dead children. That's not on you. I refuse to let you take the blame for that." Artemis said as she began to cry.

"She's right. Can you walk, Itachi?" Robin asked. Itachi nodded as he stood up. Artemis created a makeshift sling for his arm for support. Itachi started to walk towards the direction Wrath went but was halted by Robin stepping in his way, "You can't go. It's what Wrath is counting on. That's his strategy. He lured you down there to critically wound you enough so that you'd be on more of an equal playing field during a fight. It's why he attacked us too; so that we couldn't help you."

"Would you have me do nothing as he just slaughters our city?" Itachi asked in a frustrated tone from being stopped.

"Just hear me out. Wrath is banking on you challenging him because he knows that he'll have a better chance of beating one-armed Itachi rather than Itachi at full strength with the Team as backup. Every person Wrath kills is just him goading you into it because he knows that you'll feel responsible. This is his best and only chance of defeating you. Don't go. Just come with me and Artemis." Robin pleaded.

"Itachi, he's right. You're our only hope of saving the world. You can't do that if you're dead. Green Lantern is currently pursuing him and the others are doing their best to save as many people as possible. We've all agreed that the main priority is keeping you alive. That means keeping you out of this fight until you are ready. You have to see that we're making sense." Artemis explained.

"…I do see the sense of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Wrath is going to keep killing unless I show up. And the more victims that pile up, the more I'll feel compelled to fight him." Itachi quietly said.

"We know. But the Green Lantern will be able to at least hold him off until more help arrives. Then we can drive him out of the city and hunt him down once you're back to full health. Sometimes in order to win the war, that means having to suffer and lose battles like this." Artemis reluctantly said.

"Fine, help me get Carson and James up there on top of Bruce Wayne's tower. It's the tallest building in the city so they'll be safe there. We'll wait there until more help arrives." Itachi said as he carefully placed Carson on his back as Robin went for James.

"Thank you. We will avenge this tragedy. I promise." Artemis said.

"I trust you all. This isn't my world where everyone has a hidden agenda and people like me are left without a choice. We're in this together." Itachi said as they left for the tower. He only hoped that he would regret the decision to trust his teammates plan. For the sake of this city, it had to work.

* * *

Hal Jordan was currently flying towards Wrath as he was using his Susanoo to kill countless people in nearby buildings. The Susanoo was currently about to crush a school filled with children with its foot. He glared at the clone before launching an attack with the power of his ring. A giant green fist was launched and knocked the black Susanoo off its feet and to the ground. It quickly rolled back to its feet and saw Hal form a giant mech suit to counteract Wrath's ultimate weapon.

"So, you've come instead of Itachi. How disappointing. I have no interest in you." Wrath said.

"Well get interested. You attack this city, kill its mayor, murder all of those children, and dare to say that YOU'RE disappointed. You're a monster!" Hal yelled as he armed his mech suit with missiles.

"I'm glad you're so angry because that's how I felt when it was my home and my people. You all let this happen. You're no hero." Wrath coldly said.

"This ring says otherwise. I will shine a ray of hope to destroy evil like you in this moment of darkness. The will of the Green Lantern is stronger than anything you Uchiha have ever faced before." Hal declared.

"Is that so? You think I'm evil. Itachi didn't seem to think that when we last talked. Too bad I don't feel like convincing you though. But…you've still piqued my interest. Green Lantern, I will devour your hope." Wrath ominously said.

"Drop dead!" Hal said as missiles were launched at Wrath. Wrath's Susanoo held a hand out as the flesh around it began to harden and used it to block most of the missiles away. The Susanoo caught the final missile and slammed it against its own chest to explode. The result was that the Susanoo was unharmed along with Wrath who was inside of it.

"Okay, missiles don't work on this guy. Point taken." Hal said as he charged forward. He attached a battering ram onto his mech suit and swung at Wrath. Wrath conjured his Shinigami Scythe and used it to easily block the battering ram.

"You should have kept your distance," Wrath's Susanoo preformed a sweep move that took the legs of Hal's mech right out from under it. After it landed on its stomach, the clone then swung his giant scythe down and managed to cut off the arm with the attached battering ram on it.

"Attacking a downed opponent with an exposed back, not cool!" Hal yelled as he shot the attached M61 Vulcan Cannon that was on his back. The weapon stunned and pushed Wrath off of Hal just enough for Hal to use the jet propulsions on the soles of the mech's feet to fly away to get more distance.

The black Susanoo charged at Green Lantern to close the distance. Hal knew he couldn't stop the giant, but he knew he had to give himself some time to recreate a new arm for his mech suit. So he used his one available arm to shoot off a powerful laser beam that was able to slow down Wrath. Wrath had to use the Katamarimasu on his Susanoo's had to block off the power of the blast. It was difficult even with his hardening ability. Wrath made sure to make notice of how powerful that blast was after noticing small cracks in the hardened hand.

Slowly but surely, Green Lantern was able to rebuild the arm of his mech suit while simultaneously holding off Wrath. He even was able to add a new feature to the arm that he was sure to throw Wrath in for a loop, _'Come and get it, Wrath!'_

Wrath's Susanoo made a spin move to get around the beam, but was met with the new ability of Hal's mech suit; a sonic cannon. The high frequency blast hit Wrath and his Susanoo like a wall and halted the incoming onslaught.

"Try and used your hardening ability to deflect this!" Hal yelled as he kicked up the power of the sonic blast. The glass of the surrounding buildings started to shatter and fall onto the ground. The Susanoo fell to its knees and slowly was beginning to lose some of its humanoid form and revert back to its skeletal state.

' _I have to do something fast,'_ Wrath thought as he used his Hedoro ability to create a makeshift shield. He then used Katamarimasu to harden that shield and put it out in front of him to deflect the sonic blast. The Susanoo was being significantly less affected by it thanks to the shield. It was able to finally stabilize again and Wrath took full advantage of that by using his Hedoro to shift the plates of the Earth underneath them to create cracks in the ground that caused Hal's mech suit to lose its balance. It knocked Hal's aim off for just a second, but that second was all Wrath needed at he hurled his shield at the mech suit.

It forced Hal to shut off the sonic cannon so that he could use the laser beam to shoot the shield off of its trajectory. The shield was blasted and sent directly into the building adjacent to Hal, destroying until it was nothing but rubble. Hal snarled as he got ready to fire his sonic cannon again. Wrath refused to let that happen so his Susanoo sprinted at Hal and, at the last second, preformed a duck under to take the back of Hal's mech suit. The Susanoo locked in a tight c-grip and had Hal reeling by executing a German Suplex.

The Susanoo held its grip, thanks to the Katamarimasu, and delivered two more devastating German Suplexes. Hal used the jet boosters on the soles of his mech's feet to fly up into the air and break Wrath's grip before a fourth one could be delivered. It landed safely away from Wrath so that Hal could regroup and come up with another strategy.

Itachi, Artemis, and Robin had finally made it on top of Wayne Tower where they could see the full scope of the damage caused by Wrath. Thankfully, James and Carson were still unconscious from Wrath's initial attack. The city was in shambles. Entire buildings were reduced to rubble, fires had broken out where Wrath was at, and the cries for help coming from the civilians could still be heard. They all saw Green Lantern engage Wrath in a duel of the two powerhouses. The whole world was watching too thanks to the news helicopters flying around the fight.

"Wrath is a tough opponent…" Robin noted.

"But so is Green Lantern. He's been keeping up with the creep the whole time." Artemis rebutted.

"Wrath is still only assessing Green Lantern's strengths and weaknesses. His ability to formulate countermoves under pressure has drastically improved. He's also become more flexible with how he uses his Hedoro technique. This won't be easy." Itachi said in a serious tone.

' _His armor is some of the toughest material I've ever seen. When he hardens its, the only thing that can even make a dent in it is the energy blast of my ring. And that's only when I focus all of my concentration into it which leaves me vulnerable to counterattacks. I'll use my jet boosters to fly overhead to try and get a clean shot off. That thing has to have a weakness.'_ Hal assessed as his mech suit started to fly.

Wrath saw the suit start to speed in his direction and was determined to test out a theory of his, _'In the very basic summary of things, it would seem we have the same special power; to create anything we want out of our specific power source to use during combat. He proved that when I removed his battering ram and he immediately replaced it with that sound cannon of his. My Scythe can cut throw his material easily enough, but that might only be because he has it spread so thin with how much he's using it for all at once. When he did have time to focus, he was able to make cracks in my Katamarimasu. That ring is definitely raw power and his control of it is extraordinary. I have to find out just where the limit of that ring of his reaches.'_

Hal's mech flew over to Wrath's Susanoo and lifted it up to slam against an already destroyed building. Wrath marveled at how much faster the mech got. Hal took advantage of Wrath's shock by aiming his mech's laser at the Susanoo. He figured the point blank range would be enough to eradicate Wrath's defenses. Wrath quickly reacted by having his Susanoo grabbed the laser cannon of the mech and crushed it before it could fire thanks to his hardening ability. Hal countered by creating a missile launcher to fire out of his mech's now exposed forearm at Wrath. The Susanoo swung the mech suit's arm in the opposite direction so that the missiles fired at a building and leveled it completely, killing everyone in and around the chaos.

"You monster! You'll pay for that!" Hal yelled. Wrath moved himself so that he was in the mouth of his Susanoo.

"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" He shot out a fireball that sent Hal and his mech to the ground. Wrath's Susanoo landed in a loud thud before firing off the miniature fireballs of Wrath's Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Hal turned his jet boosters on to fly past the fireballs and straight for Wrath. Wrath's Susanoo ducked and caught the right leg of Hal's mech suit.

"I don't fall for the same thing twice." Wrath said as he hardened his hand to crush and destroy the jet booster. When Wrath let go, losing a jet booster caused Hal's mech suit to fly erratically and eventually crash into another building. Jordan had just enough control left to be able to scan for an abandoned building to crash into. Hal tried to move his mech, but found that he was stuck to the building. He looked down and found the flesh like substance of Wrath's Hedoro crawling up his mech and attaching itself to both the mech and the building next to it.

"You overplayed your hand, Lantern. I saw from how you fight that you can only do so much with your ring at once while keeping concentration and control. I'd say that your limit is three things at once. The more you spread yourself out, the more concentration you had to focus into your weapons. It left the perfect opening for me to do this." Wrath explained as he and his Susanoo weaved hand signs for a new Fire Style Jutsu that the Masked Stranger showed him while training.

"But when did you leave this gross slime on me?! I've been careful to replace all of the tools that were touched by you." Hal said as he struggled to come up with a new idea. He knew he was in trouble.

"When I was tossing you around earlier. After each impact, I would release small amounts of my Hedoro to attach itself to your visual blind spots. With you being so focused on trying to break my grip on your waist, sneaking Hedoro onto your back was an easy task. Now, burn away! The people of my clan fancied dragons as the beast most representative of fire, but I prefer a different monster. It's the hound of the devil himself. Its name is Cerberus and no being has ever escaped its flames of despair. Fire Style! Burning Cerberus Jutsu!" Wrath said as a giant three-headed torrent of flame erupted from his Susanoo.

It was so wild that it formed the shaped of the three-headed demon dog by the name of Cerberus. It then became tamed before bursting off towards Hal while burning everything in its path. Bystanders were catching on fire just by being in the immediate vicinity of the jutsu. Hal nervously gulped as the blast got closer and closer to him.

"Oh no," Hal managed to say as the blast made contact. It obliterated his mech suit and the building he was stuck too. The only reason Hal survived was because he poured all of his concentration into forming a force field that protected him from the heat and impact of the blast. When the jutsu was over, the building Hal was stuck to was reduced into a smoldering crater in the ground, any nearby civilians had been burned to death, and Hal was stuck in his force field trying to figure out what to do next.

' _That was close. If It weren't for my shield, I would have been a goner. Wrath will pay for this. Wait, where'd he- oh no!'_ Hal thought as he was pressed further into the crater by the foot of Wrath's Susanoo.

Hal had to pour all of his concentration into his shield as the Susanoo began to repeatedly hammer-fist his shield with the intent of shattering it. But even with the enhanced power of his Katamarimasu, Wrath's Susanoo couldn't even make a dent into Green Lantern's shield. Becoming frustrated, Wrath summoned his Shinigami Scythe to use. The Susanoo put all of its strength behind the swing to destroy Hal's shield. To Wrath's dismay, not old did Hal's shield withstand the attack, but it also was able to make cracks into his scythe.

"I swear this fight is gonna give me a heart attack. I don't know if I can take it." Artemis commented.

"It needs to end fast. That fire attack by Wrath probably killed any of the stragglers that our friends weren't able to get to in time. If this continues on, the whole city is going to be destroyed. But the problem is that I don't know how GL is going to be able to do anything while trapped in that shield of his." Robin added.

"Wrath's figured out that as long as Green Lantern is in that shield he won't be able to attack. But the problem is that Wrath isn't able to break that shield with Lantern pouring all of his concentration into it. It's a stalemate until something happens." Itachi commented.

"Or someone." The three turned around to see that James had woken up. Carson was starting to stir as well. James continued on, "You need to go down there Itachi. You're the only one who can beat him for good. What are you waiting for?!"

"No, you can't go." Carson said as she finally had fully woken up. She saw the state of Itachi's arm and double down on where she stood, "You could die. Don't go."

"He needs to go. If he doesn't, a lot more people with die, Green Lantern included. Itachi can't just do nothing while he's still standing and able to help. Isn't that what being a hero is all about? Isn't that what you are fighting for?" James argued.

"You have no right to say that! Not after what Wrath revealed earlier about you creating him. This is your mistake and you want Itachi to die for it." Carson yelled as she rounded on her brother. She was furious with him.

"Carson, I only wanted-" She cut him off before he could finish his defense, "Stop it! Just shut up, okay! You only wanted to keep me safe right? Look around, James. Who's safe?! All of these people are dead because of how selfish you are. Dad would be so ashamed of you right now." She said with angry tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Carson, we need Itachi to fight him for any of to survive. He's the only one who can. Wrath is the enemy, not me." James spoke.

"No, if what Carson says is true and you really created Wrath, then you are an enemy too. These people and our city are burning because of you." Artemis said while scolding him.

"We don't have time to argue amongst ourselves. We need to figure out a way to stop Wrath. That's all that matters. We'll settle the rest of this drama later." Robin said while tabling the argument. Artemis walked off in an angry huff as Carson ran to Itachi, but he turned away from her.

"I'm sorry." She said as she went to walk with Artemis. She started crying as she guessed Itachi's reaction was because he was angry with her for kissing Wrath. But in reality, Itachi just wanted to stay focused. Gotham couldn't afford to have him worried about personal matters while it was literally burning to death. The city was the main priority to Itachi. Thankfully, he and Robin could see water being used to douse the fires down so that meant his teammates were still trying their best to save the city. James stayed with Itachi and Robin as they watched the battle continue on.

"You know I'm right, don't you? You have to fight. You can win. You're stronger than Wrath." James said. Robin and Itachi both ignored him. Robin was trying to get in contact with Miss Martian to relay information to his teammates and coordinate a strategy. They were almost done clearing out the city. It's why none of them joined the battle yet. Once they secured the city, the Team could join the fight and finally defeat Wrath. But that plan depended on two important variables; securing the city quickly and finding a way to stop Itachi from joining the fight too soon. James being in Itachi's ear didn't help things at all.

Itachi saw a green light flying towards where Wrath and Green Lantern. He was curious what exactly that was.

"How many Green Lanterns are on Earth currently?" Itachi asked.

"Well, the main two are Hal Jordan and John Stewart. But we do have a third one, though he isn't on the most reliable list. His name is Guy Gardner. Why do you ask?" Robin asked.

"Because he's flying right into the battle. He'll be arriving there shortly. He could be what we need to stop Wrath." Itachi responded.

"I doubt that. Hal and John hate working with him because he still can't fully control the power of his ring yet. He could cause more harm than good." Robin commented.

"Well, we don't have another option except for me going down there." Itachi responded.

"You're not going down there unless the whole Team goes with you. That's the whole reason we're waiting up here to begin with." Robin strongly stated.

Itachi stayed quiet. In his head he had to make a choice; to either trust his teammates or trust himself. Right now, Itachi is choosing to trust his teammates to clear the city so that he can fight Wrath and end this nightmare finally. He just hopes that trusting them doesn't wind up being the wrong choice.

* * *

In the city, Wrath had Hal Jordan in the grip of his Susanoo and was currently trying to crack his shield open to kill the hero. He was using the Katamarimasu to harden both hands so that he could squeeze the shield open, but no progress was made. So he settled for keeping the shielded hero in his Susanoo's grip so that he could force him to watch as Wrath kept killing more people. Eventually, he figured that Hal would react after seeing more bodies drop and that would be when Wrath would kill him.

That was until a voice was heard in the distance as both Wrath and Hal turned their heads, "Have no fear! The Green Lantern is here!"

"Guy? Oh no…" Hal said as the other Lantern announced himself to Wrath. The clone wasted no time and quickly had his Susanoo try to knock Guy out of the sky, but the Lantern was too quick. He started flying around the Susanoo like a moth to a flame and started shooting the energy blast of his ring at Wrath.

He actually was damaging the Susanoo with his blasts, much to everyone's surprise. People were heard cheering from a distance as the Susanoo was dropped to a knee from the force of Guy's energy blast. Hal mentally cheered at seeing that. He knew that Guy was his best chance at surviving. Gardner flew away from the behemoth before Wrath could get a hand on him. It was increasingly infuriating Wrath by just how small and quick the target was in comparison to with Hal.

' _In terms of power, Guy matches up with any of the Green Lantern Corps. He just lacks control, but that shouldn't be an issue with such a big target to hit. I just need him to remove this hand so I can go free and together we can defeat this monster.'_ Hal thought as Guy started to fly back to continue his assault.

"You murdered all of these people and attacked my fellow Green Lantern. That's unforgivable!" Guy said as he kept blasting the Susanoo.

Wrath started hardening the areas that his Susanoo was sustaining the most damage and using Hedoro to repair it. Wrath had to think fast or he would lose this fight. As he was thinking he did happen to notice a few difference between Hal's and Guy's power. For one, Hal had complete control over his ring and could do multiple things at once. Guy seems to only be able to fly and attack. That first made Wrath wonder about his level of control, but it wasn't until he saw the second thing that he really got curious.

' _I'm sick of these Lanterns. Both of these fools are dead.'_ Wrath thought as he moved to test his theory. Guy came back for a third attack, but this time Wrath was ready for him. He'd used his Sharingan to memorize the attack patterns of Gardner and formed densely hardened armor around the targeted areas of his Susanoo. This way it would take way more time to make a dent in each spot. If Guy persisted with one area over another, he would leave himself open for a counterattack by Wrath. He did leave one unhardened area for Guy to attack; his Susanoo's head.

Guy grew frustrated with how little his blasts were doing and went for the Susanoo's head. Wrath, having predicted and planned for this, countered by using the one shield that Guy never saw coming. He lifted up the hand that held the force-field incase Jordan in it and used it to block the energy blast of Garner's ring. The results were quite interesting. A crack was formed in Hal's force field much to both of the Lantern's dismay. As more seconds passed, the crack got bigger and bigger until Wrath began to squeeze on it with the hardened hand of his Susanoo. Thankfully, Guy was able to shut off his energy blast before more damage was done which let Hal reinforce his shield so that Wrath couldn't break it.

"Guy, you idiot! Are you even watching where you're aiming?! Obviously if the head was the only unprotected spot that meant that he wanted you to attack it. Would you just think for once?!" Hal yelled as he finished repairing his shield. Had more damage been done to it, Wrath would have been able to destroy it and kill him.

"Sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again. I'll hit him with an attack so strong that he won't see it coming." Guy assured as he changed his attack plan.

' _Oh, I've already seen enough. He had trouble shutting the energy blast of his ring off. He needed two hands and about fifteen seconds of focused concentration to shut off a sustained energy blast._ _Interesting, it seems this Lantern doesn't have full control over his ring. The most valuable piece of the information I gathered is that the other Lantern's shield does have weaknesses. I know what I have to do next.'_ Wrath thought as he shifted his position inside of his Susanoo.

Itachi saw this from his spot on top of Wayne Tower and started getting concerned. He saw Wrath start to move within his Susanoo and began to worry what his clone was planning. He just knew that whatever it was he was planning, couldn't be good for either of the lanterns.

Guy got some distance and landed on one of the surrounding buildings to begin his counter-strategy. Gardner then began to fly in a giant circle while using the cover of the surrounding buildings. He made sure to stay close to the rooftops so that he could use them as cover to conceal his location. Gardner began firing off smaller but more controllable energy blasts at Wrath's Susanoo. The goal was to cut the behemoth down piece by piece until Hal could break free.

The Susanoo responded by dropping to a knee and clenching up tight to protect its weak spots, creating hardened armor on all of its joints to prevent dismemberment, and increasing the force and hardened armor being applied by the Susanoo's hands in its attempt to break Hal's shield. This was also to prevent Gardner from blasting the hands off of the Susanoo and freeing Hal. It made Wrath's Susanoo a stationary target and dared Gardner to shoot a fully powered energy blast at the beast.

For the most part, Guy's plan was working. Hal could see that the Susanoo was sustaining more damage than it could immediately heal from.

Hal was regaining hope as felt its grip on his shield start to weaken, _'This is great. Only a few more minutes and I'll be able to break free. Then we can take this creep out together. Wrath is so gonna- wait, where is he? Where'd he go?!'_

Guy hadn't even noticed it yet, but Wrath had left the Susanoo. He was nowhere to be found and that thought terrified Hal. He couldn't even warn his friends because he was too busy still blasting a now empty Susanoo. Hal knew this was going to end badly was right when he saw the next series of events happen that would shake the Earth forever.

Guy was making another run around the buildings when out of nowhere a large blade appeared from out of the alleys in between the building and severely wounded him. Gardner's left hamstring and right Achilles tendon were sliced apart basically making Gardner immobile. He had to use his ring just to be able to stand up. But that wasn't even the worse of the bad news for him. Wrath had appeared on that rooftop with his Shinigami Scythe in hand and look of bloodlust in his eyes. The scythe dematerialized back into Hedoro before Wrath began the next step of his plan.

Guy then noticed Wrath's Susanoo begin to move again. It got off of its knee and stood up tall. It then maneuvered the trapped Hal so that he was now over its head and increased the power of its grip in trying to break the shield. The final step was the Susanoo opening its mouth as wide as possible as Hal just looked down in fear of what Wrath was planning.

"Is he…is he trying to eat me?! That psychotic monster! Well it won't work! My shield will break that thing's teeth and then I'll be free!" Hal declared. He still hadn't realized what Wrath was planning.

Guy seemed to be thinking the same thing as Hal, "Really?! That's your big plan? To eat Hal? Okay, let's see where that get's you. And people say I'm the idiot."

Wrath had charged a scared Gardner with a dangerous killing intent and Guy was virtually helpless thanks to his legs being sliced open by Wrath's scythe. Guy couldn't even fly because he was in so much pain that it was hard to concentrate enough to have full control of it. Wrath knew this as he rushed the hero. The Uchiha hit Guy with a right and left hook combination before ducking a right cross from Guy and countering with a powerful uppercut. Wrath then formed a blade that was connected to his right hand out of the Hedoro made from his scythe earlier. Guy knew that if he didn't do something fast, Wrath would stab and kill him. So the Lantern did the only thing he thought could save him; a full power energy blast.

' _It should be fine since Hal is still trapped. I'm gonna blast this creep away and save the day!'_ Guy thought as he waited till the last second until he unleashed the strongest energy blast he could muster. Wrath, thanks to his Sharingan, was easily able to predict the attack and use it to his advantage.

Using his left hand, Wrath grabbed Gardner's wrist to redirect the blast out of his direction and put on where Wrath wanted it to be; Hal's shield. Guy, Hal and everyone watching were all terrified after this. They could only watch as the energy blast was slowly being shifted to Hal's shield. Even more cracks began to form as the energy blast slowly broke down Hal's shield. Wrath reveled in what was about to happen as Guy begged him to stop.

"What?! Hey…wait! No way! Stop…stop! Please STOP!" Guy begged as Hal's force field began to break. Wrath glared as he coldly replied, "I swore that I would devour the hope of the Green Lantern. And I am a man of my word!"

Hal had a look of defeat on his face as he saw his shield about to be shattered. He knew he was about to die and mentally spoke a prayer that somehow Wrath would be defeated. He looked down at his Lantern Ring and shed a tear, _'Find the next hero and make sure he goes farther than I ever did. Please protect the world I love. Goodbye.'_

The shield was crushed to pieces and Hal along with it as the Susanoo used its hardened hands to crush him until he was nothing but a gush of blood and bones that spilled into the Susanoo's mouth. The sounds of Hal's screams and the sickening sounds of his bones being crushed echoed throughout the world. Thanks to the news helicopters recording the whole thing, the entire world had just witnessed the Green Lantern be killed and devoured like cattle. The last nail in the coffin of Hal Jordan was when his Lantern Ring emerged from the Susanoo, still covered in Hal's blood. It flew away to do what every ring did when its partner died; find a new and worthy successor.

Itachi and the others looked on in shock. Carson and Artemis started crying while James and Robin looked on in fear. Itachi's expression was the only one without emotion. The only thing that was noticeable different was that the air around him got extremely cold and his eyes started bleeding.

* * *

Back in the Watchtower, the Leaguers had just witnessed a teammate and friend in Hal Jordan be gruesomely murdered thanks to the Watchtower viewing screen. They were all angry, saddened, and heartbroken by that sight. John Stewart was the most furious and determined to make both Wrath and the Masked Stranger pay.

"Hal was my partner and my friend. He was a good man who only wanted to protect and save people. You murdered and ate him like he was an animal! I will never forgive you for this!" He flew in like he was shot out of a cannon to attack the Masked Stranger. John shot his energy blast at the Stranger but was countered by the Stranger's Chakra Mode enhanced speed to get to John's blind spot and hit him with the Steam Blast Jutsu. The attack completely incapacitated John as he suffered from 2nd degree burns on his back.

"I don't remember asking for your forgiveness. It doesn't feel good when it's one of your people being massacred. Now die like your useless friend." The Stranger coldly responded. Red Tornado and Doctor Fate were next as they tried a combination attack to try to defeat their advisory. The Stranger's head cocked to the side at the sight of Doctor Fate.

' _You again. I remember you from when I first got here. You were annoying back then too.'_ The Stranger thought as the attack got ready to happen.

"Nrub yb erif dna enotsmirb!" The Wizard said as great hot flames were conjured and fired at the Stranger. Red Tornado added to the flames by using his wind powers to enhance them. The end result was a great tornado of fire surrounding the Stranger. The attack impressed the others and probably would have defeated the average villain, but the Masked Stranger was no average villain.

"Vapor Style! Steam Blast Jutsu!" The fire tornado quickly came undone as the flames died out. Everyone was shocked to see that the Stranger was completely unharmed. They were sure that the fight was over after that attack.

"My Steam Blast Jutsu isn't just an offensive move. It can be used as a defensive mechanism when applied properly. That fire technique was smart. It cut off my vision and was restricting my oxygen. It would have defeated most villains. But fire is fire after all." The Stranger explained.

The explanation went over most of their heads, all except the Flash. Being a forensic scientist, Barry knew all about what had just happened as he gave the run down to his teammates, "The creep used his steam to cool down and kill off the flames. Steam is pretty much just really hot water that has been vaporized. Water always beats fire."

"Not always. There are exceptions to that rule." The Stranger corrected. Aquaman had had enough and used his trident to manipulate the water in the air to form icicles that were aimed at the Stranger. The masked villain countered by using the Steam Blast Jutsu again.

' _These fools never learn…or do they?'_ The Stranger thought as the clash of attacks causes the immediate area to be shrouded in mist. The mist was so thick that visibility was completely cut off. Then the final part of the counter was initiated at the Stranger was hit by a blur. The blur came back and hit the Stranger two more times before disappearing in the mist again.

' _So Aquaman purposefully used that ice attack knowing that I would heat it up, thus causing this mist. And under the veil of this mist, The Flash is attacking me here. I bet the others are waiting for me to escape the mist to get the jump on me. It is an excellent multilayered attack. To use my own jutsu against me and turn it into their advantage was genius. I expect no less from the Justice League. They only made one mistake; leaving the Flash in here with me, a lightning style user. And we're surrounded by water now thanks to the King of Atlantis.'_ The Stranger thought while weaving hand signs.

The Flash came to hit the Stranger again. He threw a punch at the villain but it was caught and he was kneed in the stomach so hard that he keeled over in pain. Barry looked up to see the Stranger looking down on him before the villain lifted him up by the throat until they were face to face.

"You were the worst option for them to send in here with me. I've been around a long time…Barry Allen. I know that you got your powers by a bolt of lightning that struck you and energized every cell in your body. I can feel those energized cells racing even now. I knew exactly where you were the entire time and was only letting you hit me so I could assess your strategy. If you all had sent Marvel in here instead of you, perhaps the plan would have worked. Too bad you'll never know that. Lightning Style! Lightning Rod Jutsu!"

There was a flash of light and then a massive explosion as electricity was transferred from the Stranger to Flash. The amount of power was something Barry's body couldn't absorb, even with the electrified cells he possess. The explosion knocked him out and blew away the other League members that were waiting to ambush the Stranger.

The mist had dissipated and the result of the explosion was seen. Flash's body was completely fried. Even with his enhanced healing, this would take a while for him to recuperate from. Doctor Fate and Red Tornado also were blown away by the explosion as they were the closest the mist. They were both down for now. Only Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were left standing.

The Stranger emerged from the smoke and eyed the three heroes. It was obvious that they were grasping at straws at figuring out a way to win this fight. The Stranger almost felt sorry for them…almost.

"The next time you send someone into a mist filled area, make sure that he isn't most electrically charged than the average human and that his opponent doesn't have the ability to use lightning techniques. With him running so fast and covering himself with the moist mist, combined with his already charged up cells, the Flash was nothing but a giant lightning rod. You three each have the power of the gods at your fingertips. I…hate…gods." The Stranger ominously stated as the air got cold.

The Stranger's Chakra Mode flared again as the villain sprinted forward and ran a chakra filled hand right through Aquaman's left shoulder before any of the three heroes could react. The king was only just able to maneuver so that none of his vital organs were damaged. Aquaman started coughing up blood and feel to his knees. Wonder Woman used her shield to try and knock the Stranger away, but it was blocked via the Stranger using Aquaman's trident. The Stranger took advantage and threw Aquaman at Wonder Woman to knock them away. The Stranger turned to attack Captain Marvel, but the demi-god used his speed to get the first strike in and grabbed the villain from behind and put him in a bear hug.

"Lightning Style! Lightning Rod!" The Stranger tried to get Marvel to let go, but the jutsu had no affect on him. Marvel smirked as he put more strength into the hold, "My cells aren't like Flash's. My lightning is a gift from the gods themselves. You're nothing in comparison to them! Now, it's time for you to get a dose of your own medicine! SHAZAM!"

Lightning shot down and struck the Stranger in the chest, severely wounding the villain. The Stranger started coughing up blood by the power of the attack, _'I need to stop this, fast. If I don't, I might lose. I can't believe I let myself be put in this situation.'_

"SHAZAM! SHAZAM! SHAZAM!" One after another, lightning bolts struck the Stranger in the chest. Each time the villain was hit, the Charka Made the shinobi was using got weaker and weaker.

' _I…refuse to lose. My son is depending on me to make this world a better place!'_ The Stranger pushed through the pain and used every ounce of strength left to loosen the hold of Marvel's bear hug. The Stranger created just enough space needed to headbutt Captain Marvel just as he summoned another bolt of lightning.

In an instant, The Stranger was able to completely break free, speed behind the demi-god, and hold him so that the bolt of lightning struck Marvel instead. It resulted in Captain Marvel being turned back into Billy Batson. Before the boy could say Shazam again, The Stranger put a hand over his mouth and lifted him up so that they were face-to-face.

"Oh, I don't think so. You were right. As I am now, I'm nothing compared to a god. But you aren't a god right now. You're just boy. A boy that's about to bleed." The Stranger promised.

Billy gulped in fear as he felt waves of killing intent coming off of the villain. The Stranger began to weave hand signs to execute a jutsu but was interrupted by a charging Wonder Woman, "Unhand that child, now!"

She leapt to the villain with her sword and had every intention of cutting the evil mastermind down. The Stranger saw this and used a roundhouse kick to knock her out of the air. It was stronger than the average kick because of the Stranger's Chakra Mode. The impact was so great that she lost her grip on her sword as she was sent hurdling into a wall. The Stranger caught the sword and used it to cut open Billy's throat.

The boy dropped to the group in a heap as blood spurt everywhere and Billy was left gasping for air. The Stranger dropped the sword in the forming puddle of Billy's blood as the boy's life was quickly fading. It looked like Billy was trying to say something, but blood was pouring out of his mouth. Only disturbing gurgling could be heard coming from the boy.

"How disappointing. You are still just a child and already you have to face death. All because these heroes weren't good enough to save you. They failed you. My son was around your age when he died. He had that same look of fear on his face that you have on yours. This won't be for nothing. Billy, it's okay. Your death will open the door to new life." The Stranger sadly said.

Suddenly, a great rumbling was felt in the Watchtower. The Stranger followed that rumbling to its source which was the metallic prison Superman was being held in. The metal started to literally boil and in a great display of power, Superman broke out and with a rage filled scream, flew at the Stranger. The Kryptonian tackled the villain completely through a wall and took them both out of the Watchtower. His eyes were red with rage as he punched the Stranger through space as the pair quickly were caught by Earth's gravitational pull. The anger of hearing his friend Hal die, coupled with what just happened to Billy sent Superman over the edge and made him snap. The caped hero was no longer holding back anymore out of fear for others safety. The pair was crashing down at great speed toward the final saga of this battle. The destination of their new fight is Gotham City, where hell had already been unleashed.

Before the others could get sucked into outer space too, the Watchtowers activated its backup outer hull to seal off the exposed superstructure. Doctor Fate quickly flew to Billy and immediately began using spells to stop the bleeding and revive the almost dead child. John was next to join as he used his first aid knowledge from his time in the Marines to assist in any way that he could. Manhunter kneeled down to use his powers to help keep Billy brain functional since it had already had been without oxygen for dangerously too long. One by one, the heroes recovered and all saw the state Billy was in. Some cried, others prayed, but Wonder Woman and Batman took it the hardest. Diana was shattered that it was her sword that did this to Billy and Batman was numb because this attack happened under his watch. He felt he should have seen this coming and because he didn't, Billy was on the verge of death.

They could all only hope that Billy survive this and Superman beats this villain like he does everyone else. But deep down they all knew that even if he did win, it wouldn't matter. The Justice League, and heroes as a whole, had already been broken.

* * *

"M'gann, this is Robin. Tell everyone to drop what they're doing and get to Wayne Tower. We need to get Itachi out of here." Robin ordered.

"But I thought-" Robin harshly cut her off, "We don't have time! Hal is dead! We need to move fast. We've fallen into Wrath's trap every step of the way. As much as it hurts, we have to leave. It's the only way of securing victory against Wrath. Just…just please get the others over here and be safe."

"I understand…I saw him die. We all saw when that monster…" M'gann couldn't even finish as she broke down crying.

"We can't mourn him now. We have to finish what he started." Robin said as he cut the radio off.

"Artemis, let's get ready to go. We have to leave the city. Itachi…hey, what are you doing?" Robin said as he saw Itachi standing on top of the guardrail gazing towards Wrath's direction.

Wrath was currently in his Susanoo, pondering on what to do next. _'All of this wasn't enough. I killed this city, I killed its people, I even killed the Green Lantern and brought despair to the world, but it still isn't enough. What will it take to bring out the real Itachi?'_

As he thought that his Susanoo grabbed the broken Guy Gardner and began preparing to crush him like he did Hal Jordan. The hero fell into a great depression after Hal was killed and had basically given up. Just as he was about to kill him, Wrath felt a seismic shift in the atmosphere and knew exactly what it meant, _'Looks like he's on his way after all.'_

Itachi had ditched his sling and put his Crow mask back on. The others begged him not to go because of his injuries, but his mind was already made up, "This city is dying because of me. It's people are dying because of me. Green Lantern….died because of me. And all I could do was sit and watch because of some plan. No more. I should have stuck to my instinct and fought him from the very start. It's all my fault. I'm to blame for this. I know what I have to become to defeat him…and so I will because running away isn't an option. That stopped when Hal Jordan died."

"No! You promised that we would do this together. That you wouldn't become that dark person again. We're your friends! Don't leave us, Itachi!" Artemis begged.

"If you do this, Hal's sacrifice will be for nothing. We need you to live and fight when you're at one hundred percent! This is what Wrath wants. To fight an injured you." Robin argued.

"I can't let another soul die for me...or because of me." Itachi painfully responded.

"Itachi, I don't want to lose you." Carson quietly said as she looked him in the eye. When he looked back, all Carson saw was blood and emptiness.

"…you already did. Itachi Uchiha is gone. I am the Crow and I…I will…" Itachi dropped from the rail and started freefalling. They all ran to the railing and could see Itachi was quickly plummeting towards the ground. Soon, sparks of red light started to engulf him as one singular thought drove his mind. _'I…will kill Wrath.'_

And just like that, the sparks turned into an explosion as Itachi's Susanoo was formed already in its full humanoid form. It shrieked a ferocious war-cry as it dropped to the ground beneath it. The impact of the fall shattered all of the nearby glass windows and leveled everything in its path. In that moment, Itachi's Susanoo was reflecting what Itachi himself was internally feeling. It was the living embodiment of rage itself.

Wrath threw Gardner into a building as his Susanoo got in a defensive stance in preparation for Itachi. This was the moment he had been waiting for. What all of this death and destruction had been leading up to. Wrath calmed his mind as the shrieks of Itachi's Susanoo echoed throughout the city. They were filled with rage and suffering. He could tell that Itachi was getting closer and closer.

Wrath's Susanoo broke into a sprint when Itachi's Susanoo was in his line of sight. The fists of both behemoths were clenched and ready to be unleashed once they got close to each other. And as they prepared for a clash of titans, two more super-powered being were hurdling towards the city as a battle for justice has now turned into a battle for revenge. And with the news helicopters still overhead, the world would bare witness to the conclusion both fights. The battles of Superman vs. The Masked Stranger and The Crow vs. Wrath had begun.

* * *

That's it for this wild ride of a chapter. So much destruction and loss happened. RIP Hal Jordan, you didn't deserve to die like that. Now both Superman and Itachi have been pushed over the edge. Next chapter, both forces of nature will be unleashed and I can't wait to write it. Thank you to all who read, reviewed, favorited, or followed the last chapter. It was very positively received and hopefully this one is too. Let me know what you thought of all of the fight scenes and shock moments in the reviews/PMs. Also any ideas you all might have are welcomed as well. Until next time guys and gals!


	32. Justice is Served

**Hannibal the Bahamut: I'm glad you enjoy the story. I'll try to be better with uploading faster.**

 **Guest: No sugarcoating things in this story. Yes, the missions will continue after this and go along with the first season. And if enough people want it, I'd be happy to do a second and third season too. I already have ideas for it.**

 **Guest: Everyone has a right to their opinion, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that any member of the Justice League could actually defeat an s-rated shinobi from Itachi's world. But I'm open-minded and can have my opinion changed. That's one of the things I love about this fandom.**

 **TheAcceptance: As you'll read in this chapter, yes Itachi still has the Yata Mirror and Totsuka Blade and they play major factors into the outcome of this fight. And no, Wrath doesn't have the EMS, but he doesn't really need it thanks to his healing of any damage done unto him on a cellular level.**

 **Anime hotty lover.18: The Masked Stranger and Wrath are the real deal as it comes to villains. They don't hesitate. You're still the best by the way.**

 **Andresskorskiruiz: hey now, you just want to be a possible spoil machine, huh? Lol, it's all good. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **1968: Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet if you want epicness. Read this chapter.**

 **Marouan: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Yeah, it unfortunate but time and time again the hero needs that one lass that send them over the edge and into battle. RIP Hal.**

 **Djberneman: I can neither confirm nor deny because of risk of spoilers. But I love your thinking.**

 **Kh fan: It's always great hearing from you. You have definitely a mind for this.**

 **Kinaki747: So many questions, so little time. If last chapter was the gut punch, this one is definitely the knockout haymaker.**

 **Animefreak112097: War is often a cruel thing that can go either way as you'll read in this chapter, but it always has a way of balancing itself out in the end.**

 **Lurker: Bingo, Bingo, Bingo! It took a while, but someone finally got who Wrath is, primarly but not completely, modelled after. Good on you mate. Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter**

 **Redflash2008: thanks for the love and support. I'm glad you enjoy this story so much.**

 **Lux arcadia: Thanks, I appreciate it.**

 **Zakriping: definitely some atoning has to be going on. Well, for James more than Carson.**

* * *

Itachi and Wrath charged straight on as they both were inside of their perspective Susanoo. Itachi's gave out a wild shriek as it made the first strike but executing a wide sweeping uppercut. Wrath's Susanoo quickly side-stepped the move and evaded it. While Itachi's Susanoo was still in the middle of its attack motion, Wrath took advantage and used the new angle he created when he dodged the attack to launch a counterstrike on Itachi's Susanoo by using his own to deliver a powerful left roundhouse kick to the head. Itachi was able to read the attack and quickly counter by having his ultimate weapon check the kick. He then snapped the leg down and landed a powerful right cross the chest of Wrath's Susanoo that knocked it into an abandoned building. Wrath quickly recovered and got into a defensive stance as he mentally prepared for the challenge that was fighting Itachi Uchiha.

' _Even when he's pissed off, Itachi is still methodical when he fights. To turn a wild charge into a sophisticated counter that knocked me back despite being at a disadvantage is next level genius. Anyone else would have gotten caught with that kick of mine. Even though he's injured I still have to play it safe. I overused Katamarimasu during my fight with the Lanterns and my control over it has severely dipped. I need to hold out long enough for my chakra to recover so that I may fully use Katamarimasu again. Until then, I have to play defense.'_ Wrath cerebrally thought.

Itachi eyed his clone down from behind his mask as his Susanoo got into an offensive stance. He wasn't going to let up and allow Wrath room to breathe. Itachi's plan was to smother Wrath with attacks so that he would prevent the clone from using either of his special abilities.

Itachi's Susanoo resumed the assault by launching a volley of punches at Wrath. The clone had no choice but to parry, weave, block, and dodge the attacks. After a short stalemate, Itachi was eventually able to break through when he feinted an overhead right to get under Wrath's defenses and land a small leg sweep. The black Susanoo fell to the ground, but was able to roll with it and get back up. Wrath decided that he would create distance by running away. Itachi's Susanoo didn't let up on the clone and relentlessly chased after Wrath's Susanoo while unleashing a crazed yell.

From the top of Waynetower, Robin and the others witnessed the onslaught being unleashed by Itachi as building after building fell as Itachi's Susanoo rampaged after Wrath's. They didn't know what scared them more; all of the destruction being caused or the rage filled shriek Itachi's Susanoo was letting out.

"This is bad. Very, very bad." Artemis said as she watched the fight unfold. Itachi was currently hot on the trail of a fleeing Wrath throughout the city. The other members of the Team arrived at Waynetower just as another tremor was felt. Artemis ran to hug her friends to show how relieved she was that they were safe.

"I'm so glad you guys are alright. The city has been in chaos and Itachi…Itachi…" Artemis couldn't finish her sentence because of the pang of sorrow in her heart.

"Itachi's in pain…so much pain. And not the physical kind too. His heart is broken. I can feel it all the way up here. Our friend is in agony." M'gann sadly said with tears in her eyes.

Carson started crying when she heard that. She would trade anything to take the love of her life's pain away. She hated knowing that he was in this much pain and forced to fight like this.

"Is there anything we can do to help him? There has to be someway other than standing here." Conner complained.

"At the moment, this is all we can do to help him. We'd only be a liability if we joined the fight. Wrath got us all good. Now all we can do is sit here and hope our friend wins the fight. If he doesn't…he'll be killed." Robin answered.

"We did the best we could by clearing out most of downtown Gotham. Itachi has a clear battlefield. He will not have to worry about civilians getting hurt like how Green Lantern did. We must have faith that our friend can defeat this evil." Aqualad informed.

"Itachi's got this. He's the strongest guy I know. Not to get off topic, but what are those two doing here?" Kid Flash asked as he noticed Carson and James. The whole group turned to look at them now that Wally had brought them up. Carson started to feel subconscious with all of these eyes on her, not to mention that all of them were superheroes. James rolled his eyes at their late observation.

"They were with Itachi when Wrath first struck. Itachi was seriously wounded from protecting them and isn't at 100% because of it. Itachi is practically fighting with one arm." Artemis explained.

"Luckily, Itachi's Susanoo offsets that handicap. But he needs to be careful. Wrath has been ahead of us every step of the way. This attack has gone exactly the way Wrath probably planned it. This means that him fighting Itachi like this was what he wanted all along. I bet he's not just running away from Itachi. My instinct is telling me that this is also a part of his plan." Robin stated.

"What are you saying?" Zatanna asked.

"I'm saying that Wrath isn't running away from Itachi. He's running towards something. And I'd bet anything that whatever that something is that Wrath's running to will lead to something bad happening to Itachi." Robin answered.

"Just great! Is there any way this situation could get worse?!" Wally shouted. And like perfect irony, something else did happen. The group all felt shockwaves from the sky and looked up to see Superman punching the Masked Stranger as they both fell from the sky. The pair fell onto a Lexcorp building that was still under construction with such a great impact. That the foundation of the building they were on even shook. Somehow, the unfinished Lexcorp building was still standing though.

"Me and my big mouth." Wally said as a new fight had just arrived in Gotham.

* * *

The Masked Stranger and Superman both crash landed on top of an unfinished Lexcorp building. The impact hurt the Stranger more than it did Superman based on the broken bones the villains was feeling before the chakra mode healed the injuries. The Stranger knew that the fight was just getting started and that it would a vaunting task to face a furious Superman. Said hero was glaring at the Stranger as he struggled to get back on his feet.

"I take it you're finally getting serious based off that trip you just took us on. I can feel the rage permeating from you." The Stranger noted.

"You murdered my friend. Hal did nothing to deserve that. And Billy…what you did to Billy was cruel and evil. Who does that to a child?!" Superman demanded.

"Itachi Uchiha…that's one for starters. This is war, Superman. Stop making this personal. Hal Jordan's fate was sealed the moment he decided to take on Wrath. What's happening to this city isn't in vain. This will lead to a better world." The Stranger stated.

"Don't take you killing my friends and all of these people personal? How am I supposed to take it? This isn't a war any of us asked for!" Superman said as the rage oozed from his voice.

"Look at you. You're filled with such anger and vengeance. Is this is really who the world turns to for hope? Don't you know that nothing ever comes from anger or from vengeance? Only disaster is born from that. Stop looking at the trees and gaze upon the forest for once in your life, Kal-El. How is it that you have the best eyes in the world and yet you still see nothing? Doing things the way you heroes have been doing them has only handicapped this world. I will break those chains, reset the world, and truly make the world a better place." The Stranger said as the villain's bones were close to being healed up.

"You honestly think killing innocent people will make this world better?" Superman asked because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"These innocent people steal, kill, bully, rape, torture, neglect, oppress, and enslave others. These innocent people have no value for the gift of life, or for its cost. They need rules written in ink just so that they know not to be evil, and yet they still commit those sins anyways. Life is nothing but a cycle of sin that is doomed to repeat itself. The cycle must be broken. You coddle that cycle and hope it'll fix itself. You're more of a villain than I could ever be. You're an enabler who doesn't even know who he's fighting for." The Stranger accused. The shinobi's chakra made started growing stronger.

"I've had enough of you and your lies. I know who I fight for. I fight for the living who cry out in fear to the likes of you! I'm not holding back anymore. You wanted me, well now you got me." Superman declared as he stood up strong and tall.

"Fools like you are the reason why my son was killed. This world needs to change or else it'll always be like this. If you threaten to stand in my way, then I'll show you no mercy. I'll create a world that will be truly good all on its own. Not because heroes like you force it to be good, but because people like me and Wrath let's choose it for themselves." The Stranger declared.

The masked shinobi started levitating as the surrounding chakra cloak grew stronger. Superman knew this fight just got tougher with the Masked Stranger being able to fly now.

"What you see now is my Chakra Mode in its purist form. Its output is so great that even the surrounding gravitational field around me is bending to it; thus allowing me the ability of flight. You say you fight for the living. Well I fight for the dead." That was the last words of the Stranger before Superman flew at him with great speed.

The Kryptonian lifted the villain high into the air and delivered a blow that was so powerful that a shockwave could be seen and felt. The Stranger countered with a kick that did little to no damage to the full powered kryptonian. It created very little distance between the two opponents and Superman wasted no time in closing that distance with his charge. It was almost like a dance with how they were flying at and dodging each other but eventually Superman got the advantage when he kicked the Stranger far enough to mount an attack.

The man of steel then delivered a pair of crushing blows that sent the Stranger flying across several blocks. The Stanger recovered and flew away before a third punch could land. Despite the head start, Superman was able to follow the villain.

' _His cloak leaves a trail of lightning when he flies. I won't let him get away from me.'_ Superman thought as he turned the corner to see that the lightning trail had stopped. The only problem was that the Stranger was nowhere to be found.

"Where'd he-" Superman was attacked from behind by the Stranger who had elbowed the caped hero into a building. Superman didn't stay down long as he charged back at the Stranger and drove the villain down into the ground and drug the villain for about a block or two before being kicked back into the sky. The Stranger didn't let up on the attack and used a red lightning enhanced fisted to punch Superman so hard that he went through at least ten buildings.

' _None of his earlier attacks were that powerful, so why did this one hurt so much more?'_ Superman thought after he went through the eighth building. After going through a few more buildings, Superman was able to stop his trajectory just before he went into another building. It didn't matter because he was hit with a devastating jutsu from behind.

"Fire Style! Twin-Headed Dragon Flame Jutsu!" A gigantic flame in the shape of a two-headed dragon crashed into Superman and sent the hero hurdling into the Gotham River. The Stranger landed right on top of the water and weaved hand signs for the next jutsu.

' _Wrath, I've led Superman down here just like you wanted and made sure the other Leaguers won't interfere with your fight with Itachi. After this next technique, that'll be it for me. The future of this world will rest on you. I believe in you.'_ The Stranger thought after the last hand sign was woven.

"Lightning Style! Limelight Jutsu!" Several streams of lightning shot from the Strangers body and went up into the sky. The streams of lightning combined to form a massive ball of lightning that was sent hurdling into the Gotham River. The result was a massive electrical explosion that engulfed where the Stranger and Superman were fighting. When the light dimmed down, it revealed a facedown Superman that was floating in the river along with dozens of dead fish in the immediate area. The hero was badly damaged, but still breathing. The Masked Stranger saw the hero stirring and was amazed.

"You just won't die. Well by the end of this, you're going to wish you had." The Stranger ominously said before teleporting away. With Superman currently down for the count and the Stranger gone to a hidden place, the fate of the world would be decided by either Wrath or Itachi. And their fight was still far from over.

* * *

The battle for the future of the world raged on as Itachi's Susanoo had finally caught up to Wrath's. The orange behemoth charged at Wrath's Susanoo and launched a volley of punches and kicks that halted Wrath's progress. Because he still was trying to recover from his previous fight with the Green Lanterns, Wrath had no choice but to block and dodge. Itachi was relentless with his pursuit though and was able to land a strong roundhouse left kick that dropped Wrath's Susanoo to the ground after an intense jab-cross-hook combination. Itachi's Susanoo quickly got into a full mount so that he could strike down his defenseless clone.

' _Look at everything that has happened because of my foolish decisions. All I'm ever good for is watching people around me die. That's all these eyes are good for; watching. I never should have trusted my teammates and waited. I should have gone with my first instinct and fought you all alone from the very start. But I left it to others like Hal Jordan and it got him killed. I'm a failure here just like I am in my own world. I wish I had just stayed dead. None of this would have happened I wasn't brought back to life.'_ Itachi angrily thought as his Susanoo struck Wrath's in the face. The blow was so strong that part of the Susanoo's face was unrecognizable. Wrath had a stoic look as he could feel the tormented thoughts Itachi was thinking. M'gann could hear them too and cried at how hard he blamed himself.

"Itachi is in so much pain. I haven't seen him in this much emotional turmoil since he said goodbye to his brother after leaving his village. He thinks this is his fault and that we blame him. He wants to go back to being alone in the darkness. Itachi even wishes that he was dead and thinks we should too." M'gann sadly informed her friends.

"No, he's wrong! We don't blame him and we don't want him to die. Itachi is and always will be my friend. And when he wins I'm gonna knock him upside his head for even thinking that. Doesn't he know we all think of him as family? How much we care about him?!" Artemis proclaimed.

"Yeah! He's gonna win and fix all of this." Wally added that mostly every agreed with. Two people had different thoughts; M'gann and Carson. Carson didn't know what to think. She only hoped that Itachi lived through this so she could apologies for what she did. M'gann had even darker thoughts.

' _Yeah, Itachi may win and undo the damage done here. He's definitely strong enough to. But that's not Itachi fighting Wrath, not the one we know at least. This is more like the Itachi of the Akatsuki. His heart is just as dark and lonely as it was back then. It's scary. Itachi may be able to fix all of this, but how on Earth are we ever going to be able to fix everything that's broken in his heart?'_ The Martian thought as the battle continued.

"Why are you so angry? This is your fault. All of this death is happening because you forgot who you really were. You're not the Crow. You are Uchiha." Wrath said to himself.

' _I gave Naruto horrible advice back then. To lean on others for help when fighting men like Wrath is cruel. I am cruel. Now because I got the others involved in a fight that stemmed from my choices back in my world, the people of this world are paying the price with their lives. Is this why the Sage of Six Paths sent me here? All these people have to protect them is a failure like me. It's my fault all these people lost their lives. It's because I wasn't strong enough to do what was needed!'_ Itachi thought as he launched a pointblank Fireball Jutsu that nearly incinerated all of the black Susanoo's face off. Itachi's Susanoo roared in rage of seeing that Wrath was still alive.

Wrath knew that if he didn't act soon, he would be killed. Luckily, he had a few surprises in store for Itachi. The first surprise being that his healing, along with the abilities of his Mangekyo Sharingan, was back and ready for use. Steam erupted from all of the spots that Wrath's Susanoo was injured. Slowly, the black monster was healing itself.

' _I should have killed you back when Klarion had separated the adults from the children. No, when I first learned about you I should have used your scythe to cut your head off when I had the chance. I…was foolish enough to think that I could be a hero that refused to kill like Batman or Superman. It was a choice…a choice that I will regret for the rest of my life. I am a murderer…I've been that since I was four years old. Hal Jordan and all of these people of dead because I was too much of a coward to accept that I could never be a hero or have peace for once in my life. But even with that weighing on me, I refuse to take all of the blame for this. This blood is on your hands too, Wrath!'_ Itachi's Susanoo shrieked as it summoned Itachi's two most dangerous weapons; the Yata Mirror and the Totsuka Blade.

"I am going punish you like how you punished these people. And then I will seal you away with my Totsuka Blade to suffer in Hell for the rest of eternity." Itachi declared as he got ready to attack again.

' _Exactly what I wanted you to do! Now this fight can really begin!'_ Wrath thought as his Susanoo executed bridge to knock Itachi's off balance and used a hip escape to disrupt Itachi's full mount and create a big enough gap to launch a counterattack. Itachi's Susanoo tried to grab Wrath's to reestablish dominance, but Wrath's Susanoo was too fast and kicked Itachi's Susanoo off of it with a Katamarimasu enhanced kick. The kick was so strong that Itachi's Susanoo lost its grip on both of Itachi's ultimate weapons and sent the masked vigilante and his Susanoo into a nearby building.

Itachi didn't stay down long as his Susanoo quickly got back up and launched a shovel uppercut towards Wrath. Wrath's Susanoo veered towards the left to not only dodge the strike, but also so he could go for one of Itachi's ultimate weapons. Itachi saw Wrath going for his Yata Mirror and reacted accordingly.

"Fire Style! Flame Flower Jutsu!" Three gigantic fireballs were shot at Wrath, who had too used a gigantic wall made of Hedoro to block for his defense. When the clone lowered his wall he saw that Itachi had maneuvered so that he was at the best angle possible to strike. Wrath's Susanoo leaped at the last second and dodged just as Itachi's Susanoo caused a giant created from where its punch landed. Itachi rolled with it and continued his attack only this time Wrath was able to move at his full capacity. Wrath blocked and parried every strike from Itachi's Susanoo until the moment he was waiting for happened.

Itachi's Susanoo led with an overextended overhead right to try and take the Black Susanoo's head off. Thanks to his Sharingan, Wrath read it like a book and used Katamarimasu to harden his Susanoo's left hand to deliver a devastating counted that connected clean with Itachi's Susanoo and its jaw. Itachi refused to let that deter him as he summoned his Susanoo's curved blade and used it, along with the now close proximity thanks to Wrath's counter, to cut open Wrath's Susanoo and send the behemoth airborne. When Wrath's Susanoo landed, its entire midsection was exposed all the way down to its ribcage thanks to the cut.

"Just a few more inches deeper and Itachi would have cut me open as well." Wrath noted as his Susanoo tried to get back up. Before he had time to recuperate, Itachi has shot an attack at him. Itachi was deadest on showing no mercy.

"Yasaka Magatama!" Itachi shot off the power jutsu of his Susanoo with every intention of it killing Wrath. Wrath thought fast and summoned another wall of his Hedoro to act as a shield as he rolled out of the way of the attack. Wrath's Susanoo was back on its feet, but Itachi was right on him with a barrage of mighty strikes from his Susanoo. Wrath's Susanoo was hit with a quick right jab that was followed by a snapping right back fist. When Itachi went to use his left hand for a punch, Wrath's Susanoo performed a duck under and got to the back of Itachi's Susanoo. It was the same position he had Hal Jordan in when he changed the direction of that fight too. It was too bad for Wrath that Itachi saw and analyzed this thanks to his Sharingan. Now the masked vigilante was able to counter accordingly.

' _Using the same move in back to back fights? Some clone of mine you are. This nightmare ends now. Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!'_ Itachi weaved his hand signs and had his Susanoo fire the fireball towards the ground beneath them before Wrath could establish a good grip on him. The explosion as a result of the blast sent both of the humanoid avatars airborne, but it was Itachi's Susanoo that took advantage of it and was able to land right on top of his opponent. Itachi got right back into full mount just like before and began to rain down punches on Wrath's Susanoo. For some reason though, Wrath simply settle for covering up and blocking as much as possible. He didn't even try to use either ability of his Sharingan.

Itachi's friends began to cheer at the sight of this. It was looking like Itachi was on his way to winning this fight after using that genius counter. Conner had a serious look on his face though which Robin noticed and asked him about.

"What's up? Itachi is about to beat this creep into the ground. Why do you look like it's the other way around?" Robin asked.

"The Earth is rumbling." Conner answered as he tried to pinpoint why that was. Wally was quick with his smart mouthed response, "Yeah, that's because Itachi is caving that clone's face into the ground. We're about to win this!"

"Oh no, this isn't good," Conner said as he figured out why he felt that rumbling and why it was so familiar to him. Everyone got concerned now and asked Conner to explain was going on, "Guys, the last time I felt rumbling in the ground it was because Wrath had summoned his Susanoo right below us."

"Are you saying that Wrath is aiming to take this building down?" Kaldur asked. Conner shook his head and pointed to where the battle was unfolding between Wrath and Itachi.

"No, the rumbling isn't coming from below us like last time. It's coming from the build right behind Itachi." Conner revealed. They all watched in fear of what happened next.

Itachi's Susanoo was still striking Wrath's when a black light started to flash from the behind him. Itachi got the shock of his life when the building behind him tumbled down and a second black Susanoo emerged from the rubble with his Yata Mirror in hand. He saw that the second Susanoo had leapt into the air but was too slow to react as it knocked him off of Wrath using his own shield. Itachi recovered to launch a Fireball Jutsu that was blocked by the Susanoo using his shield.

Wrath had recovered himself and conjured his Shinigami Scythe to mount his counterattack in conjunction with his second Susanoo. Itachi was put on the defensive as both the behemoths ganged up on him with synchronized attacks that his Susanoo was too slow to block. Whenever one went for his legs, the other would attack his body or head. And since they were using weapons the damage being inflicted was very critical. The second Susanoo did a spinning backhand strike using the Yata Mirror that connected with the head of Itachi's Susanoo as Wrath used his Shinigami Scythe to undercut Itachi's right leg to knock timing of Itachi's off. Wrath followed with a front kick to the midsection of Itachi's Susanoo to keep it from regaining its base. The two Susanoo then swapped weapons to confuse Itachi so that his Sharingan couldn't come up with a counter.

Now Wrath held the Yata Mirror and his second Susanoo had the Shinigami Scythe. Itachi shot off a Fireball Jutsu to get some space, but its accuracy was off thanks to a last second shot to his Susanoo's head by Wrath using his Yata Mirror. The fireball missed its target and Itachi had no choice but to cover up and wait for an opening as his Susanoo kept sustaining heavy damage. Both of Wrath's Susanoo were lighting Itachi's Susanoo up with coordinated attacks.

' _If I don't think of something fast, I'll lose my Susanoo's humanoid form. Wrath is using one of the weaknesses of the Sharingan to his advantage. Our eyes aren't as effective in handicapped fights as they are in one-on-one fights. And to avoid me coming up with a counter Wrath is constantly switching his fighting style to throw my eyes off. I just need a second in order to take one of them out but they're constantly moving. When I try to attack one, the other comes from my blind spot and knocks my aim off. They're only still long enough…when they switch weapons! That's it! Whenever they have switched weapons Wrath has them both pause for the millisecond it takes to catch the weapons and resume attacking. That's my opening. I'll get him the next time he switches weapons. This fight isn't over yet.'_ Itachi thought as he got a jutsu ready for when his opening arrived.

After Wrath continued with his barrage of strikes, he had both his Susanoo get ready for a weapons switch. Itachi had seen his opening when his opponents went for another weapons switch. Itachi unleashed a Fireball Jutsu that took out Wrath just as he caught his scythe. That left Wrath's second Susanoo to fight since Wrath and his original Susanoo were currently down for the count. Itachi wasted no time and started attacking the second Susanoo. Though the fight was now one-on-one, Itachi found out that it didn't mean that it would get any easier. The second Susanoo fought like Wrath was at the helm of it, though it was slower possibly from not having Wrath to directly control it.

After an exchange of blows, Itachi decided to end things before Wrath recovered and joined the fight. The vigilante used the black flames of his Amaterasu to try and burn down the current Susanoo. Seeing that Itachi was firing from inside his own Susanoo's head, Wrath's second conjuring countered by using its hand to divert the direction of Itachi's Susanoo and avoid the black flames. The flames wound up hitting the surrounding buildings instead of their intended target. Itachi's Susanoo was then punched in its chest by its opponent and then tackled into a building altogether. Itachi noted a few things as he got his counter ready.

The first was that even though this Susanoo didn't have a controller in its vicinity, it still is able to make strategic maneuvers on its own. It held the head of Itachi's Susanoo away to avoid being hit with black flames and was using its body to block Itachi from moving about without being crushed. It is also using its free hand to break though his Susanoo's armor to get to Itachi. Itachi guessed that Wrath could still have control over it despite not being in or on it. Itachi would be impressed by that feat if it wasn't for the fact that he was currently fighting for his life because of it. The second thing he noticed was that this Susanoo had yet to use either of Wrath's special abilities. Itachi knew that Wrath wasn't one to hold back so that must mean that the limit of this Susanoo is that it can't use either of them while another Susanoo is being used. That meant that it had the defense of a normal Susanoo and could be destroyed like one.

"Fire Style! Flare Blitz Jutsu!" Itachi's Susanoo then unleashed a wave of fire from its body that was so hot that it bisected the second Susanoo like a knife through butter. Itachi then kicked it away so that he had a clear path to Wrath whom has just recovered from Itachi's attack.

"Fire Style! Flame Flower Jutsu!" Itachi launched three gigantic fireballs at Wrath since he felt that he now had the upperhand in their fight. Wrath grabbed his Shinigami Scythe and used them to cut down two of the three fireballs. The third one was too close to cut down and as a result Wrath had to quickly summon a wall of Hedoro to defend himself. When he brought the wall down, Itachi came charging in with his Yata Mirror in hand. The world watched as Wrath met Itachi head on as both powerful weapons clashed.

Sparks flared as the two Uchiha both knew that the end was near. They were both on their last legs. This fight, along with an entire era, would soon come to an end.

* * *

The members of the Team were all anxiously watching the stalemate. It was a back and forth fight that didn't have any indication towards how the fight might end. Most of them were optimistic but some had more of a pessimistic view point.

"I don't know if Itachi can win this." Robin muttered. The others all turned to him and stared like he had grown a second head. Robin went ahead since he knew that this would take some explaining, "Itachi isn't fighting like how he usually does. He's not fighting to his normal level of skill."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you start off fighting with one arm. That tends to hinder someone in a fight." Artemis retorted with a hint of annoyance at his opinion.

"Yeah, but don't you think that Itachi still is fighting…weirdly. We've seen Itachi fight when he was virtually blind and put up a better showing than this. I'm just pointing out what I see is all." Robin said in defense of his take.

"In Itachi's defense, he's never had to fight another Susanoo before, let alone two of them with one having one of his weapons. And despite all of that, Itachi has just as good as a chance of defeating this nightmare as anybody else. He calmly analyzed the situation and waited for his moment to strike and was able to defeat one of the Susanoo. Who is to say that he cannot finish the other one off and defeat Wrath?" Aqualad responded.

"He's not fighting to defeat Wrath. Itachi wants to kill him." M'gann sadly said.

"Stop it! Itachi isn't a killer. He's a hero…my hero. I can't tell you how many times he has saved me. He just has to win." Carson said in defense of Itachi.

"We're not saying he's not a hero. He has saved all of us too at one point or another. We're saying that Itachi has had a dark life and sometimes you just can't grow out of that." Robin said trying to soothe Carson.

" **What are we going to do about those two? We can't just take them with us after this fight is done, especially with James being the responsible for the creation of Wrath. But we also just can't leave them be because of that same bit of information. What do we do?"** Robin telepathically thought to Aqualad.

" **We'll wait till after the fight when Itachi wins to make any decisions on that. For now, let's just focus on making sure our friend makes it back home."** Aqualad replied.

"Darn it! I just wish there was something I could do. I hate sitting here like a child while our friend is out there literally fighting for all of our lives and is suffering. What point is there to having this 'S' on my chest if I can't do anything to inspire hope?!" Connor vented.

M'gann was about to calm her boyfriend down when a new voice appeared that served as a new beacon of hope that this just might actually turn out okay. Connor looked up to see that the voice came from none other than Superman. Though by the looks of it there was nothing super about his appearance. His suit was torn all over and his was covered in wounds.

"You've all done more than enough by being here for support of your friend. You helped clear out most of the city which is giving Itachi a fighting chance. You need to keep staying here and away from Wrath. That's the best help you all can offer him. Wrath and this Masked Stranger have no problem using, hurting, or killing people if it means they can get to Itachi. I found that out the hard way…" Superman said with sorrow in his voice.

M'gann was getting a strange feeling and decided to peek through Superman's mind. What she say truly shook her to tears, "No, not him. Please tell me it's not true."

"I'm sorry but it is. I couldn't prevent it. All I could do was watch. I don't even know if he's alive or not. And to make things worse, the Masked Stranger got away. I see no traces of that murderer anywhere. I couldn't stop that monster from hurting him, but maybe I can save Itachi from Wrath." Superman said.

"What's he talking about?" Zatanna asked.

"It's Captain Marvel…he's been hurt really bad by the Stranger. He could die from it. There was so much blood on the ground and it all came pouring from out of his neck." M'gann answered with tears in her eyes. The members of the Team all felt like they were just punched in the gut, but none more than Wally. He really enjoyed the company of Captain Marvel. Not just because he tended to do whatever Wally asked, but because he looked up to Wally as a hero and not like some sidekick like the other heroes. Wally had no way of making a silver lining out of this news. He was truly devastated.

"What are you doing?!" Conner demanded as Superman began to levitate off of the ground. They all thought that there was no way he could be of any help in the condition he was in. Wrath would just use the hero to get to Itachi.

"I'm going to help Itachi. He's been carrying this burden by himself for far too long. It's time someone helped shoulder the load with him. I know now that I'm he only one who can. Even if it's just as moral support so that Itachi knows that he's not fighting all alone. I'm proud of every single one of you for the heroes that you all have grown into. You make the League proud. Now keep making the League proud." Superman said as he flew off to assist Itachi in any way he could.

He didn't know what he'd be able to do against someone like Wrath, but he knew that he was done failing for the day. Clark felt it was time for him to earn his title of Superman.

* * *

The battle raged on between the two Uchiha. Both the Yata Mirror and the Shinigami Scythe were discarded after the giant clash of the weapons. Despite all of the deceit, the lies, the revelations, the understandings, the murders, the heartbreaks, and the rage; it all boils down to one Uchiha versus another Uchiha.

Wrath had Itachi on the defensive while he was against a building. Anybody watching could see that Itachi was losing this fight right now and would be killed if something didn't change fast. Wrath's Susanoo was landing any hit he wanted on Itachi's Susanoo and thanks to his Katamarimasu hardening ability; each hit dealt devastating damage.

Itachi's Susanoo got hit with a jab-cross-uppercut combination. Itachi covered up to try any block the blows, but Wrath countered that by striking the body of Itachi's Susanoo. It did enough damage to cause the Susanoo drop its arms in recoil which gave Wrath the opportunity it needed to unleash a barrage to the orange Susanoo's head. Wrath's goal was to knock its head off and crush Itachi.

Itachi knew he was in trouble and that he needed to counter or else his Susanoo would get destroyed. Too bad that was a lot easier said than done, _'I need to do something. Wrath is a lot better at taijutsu than when we last fought. He may even be better than me. And his hardening ability only makes this harder. It's unstoppable. But I refuse to give up. Every jutsu has its weakness. Wrath may be better at taijutsu, but I know I'm better with the Sharingan.'_

Wrath threw a jab-jab-cross combination at Itachi's Susanoo. Both of the jabs successfully landed, but Itachi was able to have his Susanoo shift its head to dodge the cross from Wrath's Susanoo. Itachi countered with a powerful front kick that pushed Wrath's Susanoo back several feet. Itachi's eyes had finally gotten a read on Wrath's fighting style which meant that the masked vigilante could finally mount his counterattack. Wrath got into his fighting stance and stalked Itachi's Susanoo down, but Itachi knew exactly what was coming.

' _He's going to perform a level change at the last possible moment to try to either take me down or push me back against the building to wear me down. He's counting on me to stay passive, but that's how I'm going to defeat him. It's time to go on the attack.'_ Itachi thought.

Just as Itachi had predicted, Wrath's Susanoo was in the process of changing its level at the last second. Itachi was ready for it and countered by changing his level first and delivering a piercing right cross to left hip of Wrath's Susanoo that was so powerful that it stunned the behemoth. Itachi added on to that with a devastating combination via an overhand left to the crown of Wrath's Susanoo, a right uppercut that knocked the giant back, another level change to undercut its left leg with a hook punch, and ended it with another front kick with enough force that it put the Susanoo on its back.

Everyone watching cheered when they saw the orange Susanoo proceed to pick up Wrath's Shinigami Scythe so that Itachi could deal the final blow. The young heroes reluctantly looked on as their friend was about to kill someone. Carson could barely look at the type of person Wrath had turned Itachi back into. What she felt she helped turned Itachi into.

' _Is killing Wrath really the only way to end this?'_ She just hoped that after Itachi ends this fight that she'll be able to repair any damage she might have done to her bond with Itachi. The other's hoped that Itachi wouldn't kill Wrath, but it seems that the darkness in Itachi had finally come back and taken over the kind boy that was once their friend.

It finally seemed like this nightmare would end. Wrath and his Susanoo lay on the ground as the final strike was about to come. He eyed the upper half of the Susanoo that was bisected slowly crawling towards him. It was still moving and hadn't deteriorated so that meant that it still could serve one final purpose.

Itachi raised the scythe up to kill Wrath but halted when he eyed the bisected Susanoo crawling towards him. It grabbed one of his Susanoo's ankles and hardened the grip so that Itachi couldn't escape. Itachi turned towards Wrath who had a smile on his face.

' _It can harden even without Wrath in it?! Wait it's eyes,'_ Itachi thought as the second Susanoo's cold yellow eyes flared up. He then noticed that the eyes of the current Susanoo that Wrath was in were lifeless _, 'He must have switched control to the Susanoo I cut down, but why?'_

Then the next event that happened changed the entire playing field of the fight.

"Game over!" Wrath yelled as the bisected Susanoo started to spark in a black light. Then before Itachi could react, a giant pike made of Hedoro sprouted from that bisected Susanoo. It easily towered over even Waynetower. The members of the Team looked on as the fate of their friend was unknown. All that they saw was Wrath's Susanoo impaled and at the very tip of the pike.

* * *

"Where's Itachi?!" Carson asked as they looked on at the giant pike. It was eventually Conner who spotted their friend after a few minutes of looking thanks to his Kryptonian vision.

"He's a few kilometers south of Wrath, towards the middle of the pike. It looks bad. Both the right arm and left leg of his Susanoo are basically gone." Conner said.

"I'll go get him!" M'gann said as she started to fly but Robin stopped her.

"You can't go out there! Wrath will kill you. Superman is already on his way and he hasn't even made a move yet. We have to wait till we know for sure that we won't hinder Itachi before going out there." Robin said as he tried to reason with M'gann.

"But it looks like Wrath got it worse than Itachi. He's not going to hurt anyone else ever again." Wally said.

"Yeah, but there is a problem. That pike came from Wrath's attack. Why would he perform an attack that would cause him more damage than Itachi? That is not the Wrath we've been fighting for all of this time." Kaldur surmised.

"What are you trying to say?" Zatanna asked.

"He's saying that Wrath isn't done. This is all a part of his plan. Wrath doesn't believe in ties. That monster wants total annihilation. He must have a way to continue fighting after this. He'd never risk such a desperate move otherwise." Robin concluded.

"Looks like you're right," The others turned towards Conner as he looked on at the pike. They saw the gloomy look on his face and knew that bad news was coming, "Wrath is moving again."

Back on the pike, Itachi looked on as he tried to regain his bearings. He knew that Wrath would try his best to kill him, but he never thought that he'd risk killing himself in order to do it. As Itachi tried to assess the damage done to his Susanoo, he saw that miraculously Wrath had survived despite his Susanoo being completely impaled.

' _My Susanoo seems to be missing an arm and a leg, but at least this fight is over. But I still have to kill Wrath to be sure that this nightmare finally ends.'_ Itachi thought as he got ready to move again.

Wrath was preparing his last move of this fight, "This next move will end this fight one way or another. I'm sorry Itachi, but there is no next time for you."

Wrath then exited his Susanoo and dropped towards where Itachi's Susanoo was stuck. He then initiated his final move. Itachi saw his clone be swallowed up in a black light that eventually formed Wrath's Susanoo in humanoid form.

' _A third Susanoo?!'_ Itachi thought as the giant yanked Itachi's Susanoo from the pike, removing the arm and leg that were trapped inside in the process, and prepared to slam the Uchiha straight to Hell. Itachi tried to resist, but with his Susanoo having only one arm he could only do so much as his Susanoo's face was driven into the pike during the freefall. When they both impact with the ground again, a giant cloud of dust could be seen for miles and when the dust settles, Wrath was on top.

"It looks like I win," Wrath conjured an armored blade that grew from his new Susanoo's hand. It would deal the final blow to Itachi. Itachi was out of ideas and quickly running out of time. His Susanoo was hanging on by just a thread and if it isn't destroyed by Wrath with this next attack, Itachi's almost depleted chakra will dematerialize it for sure. Itachi's only hope was his Totsuka Blade which, by some miracle or stroke of luck, was just a few feet away, but there was no way Itachi could go for it with Wrath's Susanoo on top of him. But just when all hope was lost, a hero came to save the day.

"Enough is enough!" Superman used his heat beam to melt away the armored blade before I could kill Itachi. Superman was done waiting and decided to try and talk some sense into Wrath before this got any worse. The news helicopters zoomed in to get better audio on what was being said.

"You proved your point, Wrath. The world of heroes is a flawed one. We need to be better in order for the world to truly be safe. The people don't deserve to have this happen to them…what happened to your family all those years ago. You want justice for your family right? Well this isn't the way. Vengeance only breeds more vengeance. I'm the one who is responsible for the state of the world. It is because of me that its villains are still allowed to run free. I have failed in being Earth's protector, but I believe in second chances for everyone. You can get one too, but only if you stop this madness and work with us for a better future. Nobody is too far gone, not even you." He said while trying to reach into Wrath's humanity. This wasn't Superman talking to Wrath. It was Kal-El talking to him. He knows that Wrath came from Itachi so that has to mean that a part of Itachi's kindness is within him too. He held his hand out as lifeline for Wrath to grab before he drowned in the blood and darkness.

Wrath's Susanoo got up off of Itachi's Susanoo and turn towards Superman. Wrath's expression was unreadable. Clark took that as a sign that his words were getting through to him. Behind Wrath, Superman could see that Itachi had retrieved his Totsuka Blade and was getting it ready strike Wrath.

"I agree with you Superman…this madness should stop. I also agree that people deserve second chances; why should I be any different?" Superman exhaled as it was looking like his words might have actually gotten through to Wrath. He saw that Itachi was getting ready to use his sword to end this and seal Wrath away. Itachi took advantage of Superman's distraction and thrust his Totsuka Blade towards Wrath so that he could seal him up forever.

Wrath turned at the last second and caught the blade with a Katamarimasu armored hand. Itachi, Superman, and everyone who knew of the blade couldn't believe their eyes. Wrath's face sported an evil smile as the final step to his plan had been realized.

' _He blocked it with his hardening ability. This isn't good.'_ Itachi thought as he desperately tried to pry his blade away from Wrath's grip. But the armor he had on it made the grip unbreakable.

"I know all about the abilities of that Totsuka Blade. If the blade pierces a person, that person will be sealed away in a hell-like genjutsu forever. Too bad it can only do that by piercing the target. You didn't let me finish, Itachi. I agree in second chances. I tried to kill the both of you once and failed, so why shouldn't I get a second chance at it right now. And I'm going to use your blade to do it!" Wrath's Susanoo then elbowed Itachi's in the head to make it lose its grip on the Totsuka Blade.

Everyone watched in terror as Wrath rip the weapon from Itachi's Susanoo's and plunge it right into Superman's chest. Superman coughed up blood as he felt his life being drained away. He gave Itachi one last look to apologize to the Uchiha before being sealed away into the gourd of the Totsuka Blade to suffer in genjutsu for all eternity.

"Nooo! Superman! Wrath, what have you done?!" Itachi yelled as Superman's cape was left flying in the wind. The world's greatest hero was gone. Itachi summoned a curved blade of his Susanoo to try and attack Wrath but with low chakra, one arm and leg, and a dangerously low level of blood the attack was useless. Wrath easily dodged the attacks and kneed Itachi's Susanoo in the head to drop it to the ground.

"Is this your savior?! The man sent by God to show you the way! Is this really your savior?!" Wrath yelled for all to hear. Everyone watching around the world had just seen what was basically the death of Superman, and pretty soon Itachi was going to join him. All of the young heroes on top of Waynetower had tears in their eyes and fear in their heart at the scene. Even Conner couldn't hold back the sadness he felt from watching his brother die. Artemis, M'gann, and Carson were shattered at the current state of their friend. Even the Masked Stranger watched the scene from far away with an indescribable feeling running through the villain's chest. They all had the same thought, but no one was willing to dare speak it until James eventually spoke up, "Itachi…he's…he's gonna lose."

Itachi tried to muster the strength to get back up, but Wrath delivered a devastating armored punch that dropped his Susanoo again. And to make matters worse, Itachi's Susanoo was beginning to deteriorate due to a lack of chakra needed to sustain it. Wrath picked up Itachi's Susanoo and held it so that they were face to face. Wrath delivered a massive headbutt to Itachi's Susanoo that brought it down to its hands and knees as a sign of dominance. To cap off how bleak the situation was looking, Itachi's Susanoo reverted back to its skeletal form with a badly hurt Itachi who was hacking up blood like back when he was dying from his disease.

"The Crow, the man who is supposed to bring peace to the world and defeat this so-called great evil. Him?! Well in my eyes, the Crow is the great evil! He's supposed to protect you! Look at this weak coward graveling on his knees. Does this man look like he can protect anybody?! He can't even protect himself from his own lies and past! Look at what he let me do to heroes like Green Lantern and Superman! What he let me do to Gotham and its people! What type of savior is he?! What type of God sends a failure like him to save you?! He failed to save his best friend, his lover, his parents, his village, and even his own brother! This man is no hero! He is an absolute waste of time, and I'm done dealing with him!" Wrath shouted as he turned the Totsuka Blade towards Itachi.

Wrath summoned a tower of Hedoro right underneath Itachi's Susanoo. It completely obliterated Itachi's Susanoo and sent the Uchiha airborne. Itachi's mind went blank and time sent by slowly as he fell from the sky. He thought back on his life and how it all played out. Even though he has been here twice before, Itachi still had a hard time accepting that he was going to die.

' _Probably because unlike the other times, I still feel like I have so much to do. My mission isn't over. I wasn't good enough to finish it. I couldn't protect the people I cared about. I'm sorry Carson, Artemis, Ms. Yumi and all of the others. I have failed.'_ That was Itachi's last thought before Wrath rammed the Totsuka Blade through Itachi's chest.

"NOOO!" Artemis and Carson yelled as Itachi was absorbed into the gourd. The reality had finally set in; Itachi was dead. Carson fainted into James's arms as the others watched Wrath drop the gourd of the Totsuka Blade. The entire world looked on in fear and silence as Wrath picked up his Shinigami Scythe and looked towards the horizon. The nightmare seemed to only just be beginning.

"No, I'm your savior. And from now on, this world will change to fit my image. The era of superheroes and supervillains running amok is over!" Wrath said as he rammed his scythe down on the gourd, completely destroying it and sending it back to the Pure Land from wince it originated from.

Wrath smiled with joy as he felt that a big weight had been lifted from his shoulders, _'Did you see that mother, father, and little brother. Everyone in the Uchiha Clan can finally rest in peace for their executioner has finally been punished. Now the world can finally move forward and become better. Our dream of freedom and equality can finally be realized.'_

"Justice has been served!" Wrath shouted as his Susanoo roared in victory.

* * *

In an unknown world, Itachi stepped forward onto a bridge that hung over a dark liquid. Itachi saw that a woman was at the center of that bridge and walked over to her. As he walked, it started to sink in to Itachi that he was defeated by his clone and would spend all of eternity here as his punishment. Itachi had an unreadable look on his face as he noted his surroundings. Itachi still felt numb even though none of his injuries from the battle seemed to follow him into the genjutsu world. It was like Itachi was missing something, but he just couldn't figure out what it was.

When he got to the girl, Itachi quickly realized who she was by the smile on her face. Itachi could live for a thousand years and never forget that smile, "Izumi."

"So you do remember me, I'm touched." She responded with that same smile on her face.

"I could never forget you. I've thought about you every day of my life after that fateful night. You're even in my dreams…my nightmares." Itachi softly said.

"I'm here because of you," Izumi's smile turned into a leer of rage. Blood started flowing through her eyes, nose, mouth and ears and her eyes turned black as well. Her skin started to decay like a corpse that had been dead for several years, "You made me like this. I loved you."

"I'm sorry. I thought it was my only choice. I had to save-" Izumi snapped at him to cut him off.

"Save who?! Your brother, because he wound up trying to destroy the shinobi world all because of your influence! Madara got a hold of him the moment you died, like a snake in the grass. Your village, because the moment you died Pain wiped out our entire home. You murdered us for nothing! Gotham? Yeah, because you sure did a good job with that. How many people did you let Wrath kill? Or is it this Carson girl I've been replaced with? You just made her watch you die. You are a failure at saving people, Itachi. The only thing you seem to be good at is dying." Izumi harshly said.

"You're just a genjutsu. You're not real. I killed Izumi long ago. I don't have time for this." Itachi harshly said as he walked away. He needed to find Superman and figure a way out of this mess he was in so that he could stop Wrath, _'This isn't over.'_

"But it is over. Wrath destroyed the Totsuka Blade after he sealed you away. You're stuck here with me and the others for all eternity." Izumi revealed with her smile again. This time the smile felt evil. Itachi felt all hope disappear after hearing that bit of news. Itachi turned to look at her and saw that the horrible, bloody corpse that she used to look like was back to being his childhood love. Itachi did notice that she said others and asked her about it.

"Who are these supposed others that I'm stuck here with?" Itachi asked. Izumi pointed down below. Itachi looked and saw that the dark liquid that the bridge was over reveal itself as blood. He didn't need his Sharingan to tell him that there were a lot of corpses in the sea of blood too.

"Oh, who you ask? Just everyone who has ever died by you or because of you. They all have been waiting to drown you in the blood and pain that you caused for them. It's what this sea is made of. The blood of all of your victims. You do have a lot of bodies to answer for and thanks to Wrath; we all have all the time in the world with you." Izumi said as she stepped forward.

As she began to step forward, the sea of blood began to rise. "The sea is started to fill more and more as the blood of those who lost their lives to Wrath pour into it. You will drown in blood just like you made all of us do."

Itachi suddenly couldn't move as the sea of blood got to his neck. He felt multiple hands grab his throat and yank him down into the blood. It started with Izumi and his mother and father, but soon the number started to get higher and higher. Before long, thousands of corpses pulled and yanked Itachi at all directions as he went deeper and deeper into the sea. Itachi closed his eyes and resigned himself to this torture for failing time and time again. He felt it was time he received his punishment.

As Itachi drowned in the sea of blood, a hooded figure watched on with great interest. The hidden person stepped onto the sea of blood and prepared to take action, "You're not alone, Itachi. No matter what you tell yourself; you have never been alone. I'm getting you out of here if it's the last thing I do in my wretched life. You still have a world to save, chosen one."

* * *

Whew! That's it for this chapter! I know I know. Where the hell have I been? Well, the Navy has taken up a lot of my time and energy. It's not an excuse for this coming out like two months after the last chapter, just a reason. It will never take two months for me to upload a chapter again. I'm not giving up on this story. You all have been to supportive of me for me to do that. Now, I know I'm going to get some major heat and blowback for Itachi losing to Wrath, but honestly this is the only way the story can progress forward. How can a character truly develop if they don't have a fall from grace to climb out of? This isn't an OP character story. It's a storytelling and character development type of story. I understand if you don't want to read because it's not your cup of tea but I won't lie or mislead you into thinking that this is something that is it not. Now for those who read this and do like it, thank you very much. You're the reason I still do this and will keep doing this. I promise you that the payoff will be worth it. Wrath and the Masked Stranger will get theirs. And Itachi isn't as alone in that genjutsu world as he might think. I wonder how many of you can guess who this new hooded character will be. We're in it for the long haul, baby! Thank you for all of the reviews, favorites, follows, and PMs. You guys are the best a guy could ask for. Now let me know what you think of this chapter. Whether it's how much you like it or where you think I could improve. I read it all and take it all into consideration when writing these chapters. I try to never have the same complaint two chapters in a row. Before I go, I want to shout out readers like Kinaki747 and comedyfreak94 for checking up on me. I'm glad there are readers who care about this story to PM me to get my behind in gear and upload a chapter. It keeps me motivated. I'm gonna get started on the next chapter right away cause you guys deserve it! Thanks for all of your love and support. Until next time guys and gals!


	33. What Comes Next

**Kinaki747: And next chapter will be the comeback. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.**

 **ActionTReaction: Itachi can use both, but it would only be for emergences only considering the cost is blindness.**

 **Brave2000: I'm glad to be back. It's good to have friend to get you out of sticky situations like this.**

 **Ronlol2: I'm glad you like it. This chapter should explain how they plan on breaking Itachi out.**

 **Marouan Dahraoui: Nope, not dead yet. Glad you liked the chapter.**

 **Anime hotty lover.18: The comeback tour starts now,**

 **Andresskorskiruiz: Thanks for the love!**

 **Devingo1999: I'm always happy to read that a fellow fan like you enjoys my work. Wrath will eventually be defeated in a very cool way. Just you wait.**

 **Guest: I definitely will finish this story.**

 **Guest: Who's to say that Itachi and Carson will wind up together in the end? Tragedies always happen to Itachi.**

 **Redflash2008: I know right. That was my reaction to last chapter too, and I wrote it lol.**

 **Guest: I have watched the movie and thought it was really good. A lil bit overrated, but good all the same.**

 **Guest: I don't know if I plan on killing Itachi off again. I mean how many times can one man die and be brought back to life. We're entering Dragonball Z status soon if it keeps up lol.**

* * *

The world was shook by the results of the Battle of the Uchiha. When Wrath successfully sealed Superman and the Crow in front of the entire world, everything went into panic. The viewing world wept in fear and sorrow over the loss of their greatest hero. Though that loss was felt by the members of the Team, what hurt them the most was the loss of their friend, Itachi Uchiha.

Artemis was crying into Kid Flash as he held her for support as she grieved. Miss Martian dropped to her knees as Conner tried to comfort her, but she was in no mood for it. She felt like she just lost a brother. Robin, Aqualad, and Zatanna all looked on in sadness while having no words to express how they felt. Carson was in straight denial. She refused to believe that she'd just lost someone else that she loved.

"No, he's not dead. Not Itachi. No, it can't be true. He had to have gotten away somehow." She muttered to herself as she gazed at where Itachi was last seen. James waked over to her to talk his sister out of her trance. He felt so guilty right now, "Carson, Itachi's gone. Wrath…killed him."

Carson snapped at this, "No, you're wrong! You're wrong! You're wrong! Itachi can't be dead…not before I could apologize and tell him how I feel. I just want…I just want to talk to him."

Carson began to breakdown and weep. James tried to comfort her, but she lashed out at him, "Don't you touch me! This is your fault! You created Wrath, you hated Itachi, and now I just lost someone else I love. I don't care if you never liked Itachi. He didn't deserve to die like that. He, Green Lantern, Superman, and all of these people are all dead because of you! And as of this moment, you are dead to me."

James recoiled from her cold words. He knew that he messed up, but only now does he realize the magnitude of his choices along with the consequences that come after. James was about to respond when Wrath's Susanoo started moving again.

The Susanoo started to deteriorate until it was nothing as Wrath found himself falling safely to the ground. He sadly stared towards Carson's direction one last time before making his escape. Using the last of his chakra, Wrath activated his Hedoro to tunnel underground. He made sure to seal the entrance to the tunnel and harden it with Katamarimasu so that he couldn't be followed. Conner was about to go after him to get revenge for Superman and Crow, but M'gann stopped him.

"Hasn't there been enough death today. Please, I can't lose you too Conner." She sadly said as she held on to his arm for dear life. The rage in Conner's eyes subsided and he wound up staying with the group. Aqualad stepped up and gave the Team the next command. The Atlantian felt like a failure, both as a friend and as a leader for just standing by and watching his friend die. Kaldur swore that he wouldn't let another friend die on his watch.

"Miss Martian, summon your ship here to take us back home. We're returning to the Cave." Miss Martian nodded before slowly signaling for her ship to come meet them. Zatanna openly questioned why they were just running away instead of going after Wrath for murdering their friend. Kid Flash, Artemis, and Conner also had the same thought.

"We must regroup and regain our footing. We are not going after Wrath. We're going home." Aqualad said leaving no room to debate.

"Are we really gonna just let that murderer get away?! He destroyed this city, killed thousands of people, and just murdered our friend! How can you expect us to just let this go?!" Artemis yelled.

"We're not letting this go, not by a long shot. But look at the state of things; Green Lantern is dead, Superman is dead, the Crow is dead, and all of us are beat up. We need to recover and regroup. That battle had to take a lot out of Wrath too. He won't be active for a while but when he does, Wrath will probably try to impose his will on us. We have to stop him before he does that." Robin said as he tried to explain the logic behind retreating.

"We need to recover and get our bearings together. Itachi would not want us to die a foolish death because we rushed in while being fueled by emotions. When we come up with a plan we will go after him and we will make him answer for his crimes." Aqualad promised.

M'gann's ship had finally arrived and the heroes on the roof, plus Carson and James, went aboard. Robin, Aqualad, and Zatanna were the last to board. Robin and Zatanna wanted to know what Aqualad had planned for the future.

"How are we supposed to fight Wrath when we have no idea where he's even at?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, and even if we manage to find him, how are we supposed to defeat him when Superman, two Green Lanterns, and the Crow all lost to him?" Zatanna added.

"James, if what he says is true about him being Wrath's creator, will be able to tell us where he is when the time is right. And as for your question Zatanna, we'll speak about it later. I just didn't want to discuss my theory in public with their deaths being so fresh in our minds" Aqualad cryptically answered.

"What's your theory?" Robin asked.

"I'll tell you when things settle down. C'mon, let's go back to the Cave. The others deserve some time to grieve what just happened, you two included. You don't have to act strong around me. I'm the leader so the weight of the Team's failure falls on me and me alone. And watching our friend die is my greatest failure. Let's go, we have to retrieve Guy Gardner on the way there. Hopefully, he's still alive too." Aqualad sadly said as a tear dropped from his eye.

The three heroes boarded the ship and left. It was the beginning of the process to figure out what comes next.

* * *

Weeks have gone by since the day the Team lost Itachi. The world at large has been calling that day E-Day, which meant the Day of Exodus. It represents the day that heroes were forced out of their throne of decadence by Wrath. As much as the majority hated what Wrath did, government officials used this attack to push their own agenda and finally be able enforce control over the Justice League and all meta-humans/aliens that populate the Earth. The main question that is fueling this notion was this; how could the Justice League let this happen?

The heroes themselves were busy grieving their heavy losses suffered at the hands of the Masked Stranger and Wrath. When the Team retrieved Guy Gardner and returned to the Cave, they were greeted by the worried members of the Justice League, those of them that could still walk that is. Black Canary, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel were all still badly wounded. It was a miracle that Doctor Fate was able to stabilize Billy, but because of the sorcerer the boy was able to survive having his neck cut open. In fact, the sorcerer was able to heal most of the injured Leaguers. Though some were still in critical condition, Fate was able to guarantee that all of them would live.

M'gann flew straight to the infirmary to visit her uncle as soon as they told her how the Masked Stranger injured him. She started openly crying when she got to him. The weight of everything that had transpired throughout the day had finally caught up with her. The others weren't doing much better. Most of them were being comforted by their adult counterparts. Wally went to his uncle, Barry. They comforted each other as silent tears were shed

Robin went to Batman to discuss what had happened. Bruce wanted to know how something like this could happen under their watch. Kaldur went to his king and mentor, Arthur Curry. Kaldur was really beating himself up, but Aquaman tried his hardest to let his apprentice know that this wasn't his fault. Zatanna stood off by herself as tears started flowing from her eyes. When Doctor Fate tried to speak words of comfort to her, she scowled and told him that if he really wanted to make her feel better he'd release her father. She stalked away by herself, while leaving Doctor Fate to mull her words.

Guy Gardner was a shell of his former self. He was no longer the obnoxious and robust hero he always portrayed himself to be. The man felt heartbroken and guilty over getting Hal Jordan killed. John Stewart tried to reassure him that no one blamed him and that it wasn't his fault, but Guy was so broken that nothing got through to him. He truly wished that Wrath had killed him too so that he wouldn't have to feel this lonely void that he feels now. He didn't even know if he wanted to keep being a Green Lantern it was so bad.

Oliver Queen was about to walk over to Artemis, but she shook her head at him. She didn't want his comfort, she wanted her friend back. She saw how Wally was crying and her heart began to ache. Out of everyone on the Team, she hated seeing Wally cry the most. She instead went over to her friend Carson, much to the girl's confusion. Carson still hadn't figured out that her neighbor and childhood friend and this archer of a vigilante were one and the same.

"So, you and Ita- I mean the Crow were close, I take it?" Artemis sly asked. She wanted to disguise her voice so Carson wouldn't be able to out two and two together.

"No offense, but I really want to be alone. I don't feel like talking." Carson said without any hints of emotion. She truly looked devastated.

Artemis understood this and left her friend alone. She saw James heading towards Robin and Batman. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Aqualad had joined them. Obviously they were discussing their next move in how to deal with Wrath and the Masked Stranger. Carson glared at this before walking off. Artemis walked slowly behind her to make sure her friend was okay and be there for her in case she wanted to talk eventually.

Conner saw Wolf and Sphere come to him and he kneeled so that they could comfort him. Wolf started howling and Conner already knew what his friend was trying to say, "I know, friend. This hurts for me too. All I could do was standby and watch Superman and Itachi get killed."

Wolf barked at him but Conner shook his head at his pet, "No, this is my fault. I'm supposed to be Superman's clone but I barely have even half of his abilities. I have to get stronger so that I can protect my friends. I don't want to see anyone else that I care about die."

Wolf barked again as Conner stood back up, "Sorry Wolf, but I have to do this. The world needs a Superman in it. He was its greatest protector. I'll protect the world that he and Itachi fought and died for. I owe it to the both of them."

Today, the group decided to eat dinner together. The Team hadn't really shown any signs of comradery or fellowship since before E-Day. Conner was off to the side as his teammates were all gathered along the table and preparing the food. Black Canary had made a full recovery from getting her throat crushed, but still was on limited duty until Batman deemed she was ready to get back to the field. Billy had made great strides as well, but still found talking to be a challenge. Fate assured him that it will get better with time as long as he properly rested. J'onn helped his niece prepare the food. He, too, was put on limited duty.

Carson and James were being kept under protective custody at the Cave. Batman went out to Gotham to survey just how much damage was done to his city and to check to see if Alfred was alright. Luckily, his butler was able to avoid the chaos and remain safe within the walls of Wayne Manor. He and Robin also swung by Carla's place to retrieve her. It was good that they did because not soon after when Batman made his rounds throughout the city at a later night, he noticed that her home had been broken into and searched. Bruce figured that Wrath was looking for Carson and decided that she was safest with them.

Carla was relocated to Wayne Manor under the protection of Alfred until Wrath could be apprehended. Carson was glad to know that her friend was okay, but she was still in a grieving process over Itachi. She barely spoke, ate, or even interacted with the others. She mostly went down to the underground memorial chamber of the Cave. There stood a giant holographic statue of Itachi. She hated it because it was like her admitting that the one she loved the most was gone. For days, she'd cry in front of it and ask for forgiveness.

It was a miracle that Artemis was able to get her to eat with them. Luckily, Artemis was just as stubborn as Carson was. Behind closed doors, Artemis took a gamble and revealed that she was her friend. Carson, though she was shocked, in her heart she felt she always knew this. Carson pulled her friend into a hug much to Artemis's surprise. She really hadn't been expecting it.

"Thank you for being his friend. I just wish that for once someone could have protected him like how he protected everyone else." Carson sadly said to her friend.

"He really cared about you, Carson. You protected him…from the darkness in his heart." Artemis said while trying to comfort her.

"I wish that were true, but we all saw how hurt Itachi was before he died. I hate that he died while hating himself and that there is some clone walking around to remind us that we'll never have him back." She vented.

"Let's go eat. Itachi would want us to enjoy our lives for what it's worth. I…I loved him too. He was like family to me. That's why I swear that I won't rest until Wrath is brought to justice." Artemis promised.

Carson nodded before walking with her friend to the Thanksgiving table. Everyone was there except for James, who was making an important phone call with some unknown person, and Conner who was sitting alone with Wolf. Conner was about to go join them when he heard a loud screech ringing in his ears.

"With Superman now dead, only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency, Superboy. And that's you. Meet me in Washington DC. On East Potomac Park…come alone. I promise, it'll be worth the trip." The message ended and Conner immediately got up and started heading out.

M'gann noticed that her boyfriend wasn't heading towards the table and called out to him, "Conner?"

"I figured you don't need my help with anything concerning setting up food. Remember the last time I helped in the kitchen." He said to explain why he was leaving.

"Yeah, but-" Conner cut off her saying that he was just taking Wolf for a walk and that he would return soon. The others still worried because with how the climate was towards heroes nowadays, even a late stroll could be problematic for them. Aqualad decided to let him go since Conner tended to do whatever he wanted anyways.

Sometime later, Conner had arrived in Washington DC with Wolf in tow. He wanted to hear what Luthor wanted to say since he went as far as to call him out on a secret frequency. Lex was in his limo waiting when Conner arrived. He stepped out and decided to greet the teenage clone.

"Superboy, my name is Lex Luthor. I'm the new chairman of the board for Project Cadmus." Lex said while extending a friendly hand. Wolf growled at him and Conner glared as he had no intentions of being friendly with an enemy of Superman.

"I know who you are, Luthor. And I want nothing to do with you or Cadmus." Conner began to walk away when Lex continued on his introduction. He had the sly look of confidence that had been a signature trademark for Lex whenever he was in negotiations with someone. It was with this very same look that Lex dropped bombshell on Conner.

"Cadmus has created a new super-clone." That stopped Conner in his tracks and gave Lex his full undivided attention.

Conner left for the nearby Cadmus facilitates so that he could verify what Lex had just told him. When Conner got there, he was immediately greeted with armed guards at the ready.

"Guardian, you were fast on the rebuild. Now escort me down the easy way or I will escort myself down the hard way." Conner threatened.

Guardian sat in front of a computer screen with two other doctors as he mulled what to do. He eventually decided to let Conner through before things got violent. One of the doctors asked why he was letting Superboy down here. Guardian dismissed her question and told her to focus on the fact that another genomorph had vanished and they needed to work fast in relocating it.

"Every disappearance is being investigated." Another doctor added.

"Not good enough, Dubbilex." Conner and Wolf then walked through the door and greeted them with his trademark hot-headed attitude. Guardian had no idea what this was about, "The new super-clone. Where are you holding it?"

"Welcome home, Superboy. Now, what are you talking about?" Guardian replied in a calm demeanor.

"Brother, you are the only super-clone in Cadmus." The creature named Dubbilex added.

"All cloning projects, human and Kryptonian have been shut down since your escape. And with this Wrath going around killing heroes left and right, I doubt the other know you're here." The other doctor assessed.

"My escape? You mean my liberation." Conner defiantly responded.

"As you say. Well, now I'm needed back in my lab." The doctor then left the room. The stress was starting to get to Guardian as he removed his helmet and commented on how he hated his job sometimes. When Conner saw his face underneath the helmet, he was shocked to see just how much Guardian and Red Arrow looked alike.

"Oh, don't be too surprised. Red Arrow is my nephew." The man said as he read Conner's confusion.

* * *

The heroes back at the Cave were currently eating dinner. They were beginning to notice that Conner was still gone. M'gann wanted to go out and look for him but Aqualad forbade it. It's too dangerous for heroes to be out right now, especially with Wrath still on the loose though he has been inactive since E-Day.

M'gann was about to go anyways when she saw how Carson was silently crying over her food. No matter how much they tried to talk to her, she still was grieving over Itachi's death. M'gann began to feel ashamed.

' _It was selfish decisions like this that Itachi made that led up to this. Always going off by himself and not thinking of what it could do to the rest of us. And now Conner has picked up on this. Why can't they just realize they we're stronger together than we are apart. All Carson has are memories now because Itachi fought Wrath instead of running away with us. I just don't know what I'd do if something like that ever happened to Conner. Itachi was like a big brother to me and he died thinking so low of me. It hurts so much.'_ M'gann sadly thought to herself as she fought back tears.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that Zatanna had come over to comfort her. She smiled before hugging her friend. It was for bleak times like these that the Team needed to stick together the most.

' _Conner, please stay safe.'_ She thought.

Back in Cadmus, Conner was receiving a tour from Guardian. It was an attempt to show the clone that Cadmus had changed its ways since he last left the facility.

"Here's the 411. This is the new and improved Cadmus. Doctor Spence, who is the woman you met earlier, and her team are doing truly worthwhile genetic medical research now. The genomorphs are becoming more independent and more educated by the day. Some even have names already, like Benny over there. Someday, the work done here will save millions of lives." Guardian said while conducting the tour.

Conner suddenly got a telepathic message from Dubbilex during the tour, **"Superboy, you may trust Guardian. He keeps no secrets, unlike you. Apparently you still keep your psychic powers a secret from everyone. They probably would have been useful in the battle against Wrath, but I guess we'll never know and you'll always regret it. Some secrets have their place. We were all created to be exploited as living weapons, though not to the scale that Wrath was. Or even you for that matter. You were designed-"**

" **To replace or destroy Superman. I already know this so what's your point?"** Conner telepathically said.

" **That you should understand the plight of those left behind after I helped free you from Cadmus."** Dubbilex answered.

" **The League liberated all genomorphs."** Conner argued.

" **Are we free to walk the surface as you do? Or has our role merely changed from weapons to menial labor?"** Dubbilex responded with a hint of anger.

" **Look, it's complicated. But first things first,"** Conner then turned a reference Guardian out loud, "Guardian, could a super-clone exist without you knowing?"

"It's highly unlikely." He responded.

" **Tell me, brother. What would you do if you found this super-clone?"** Dubbilex asked.

"If it exists, I'm freeing it. Just like Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash freed me." Conner answered.

" **Then I will question our brothers. Nothing happens at Cadmus without a genomorph knowing. If a super-clone truly exists, we will find him."** Dubbilex said to reassure Conner.

"Look, I have my own missing genomorphs to locate, so you've got the run of the place. I just doubt you'll find what you're looking for." Guardian said as he began to walk away. That meant leaving Conner and Wolf with free reign to search the facility.

Conner's first place to look was the lower underground levels of the facility. That's where he remembered being kept when he was being held here. Conner saw the hyperbolic chamber that he was kept in. It had the initials "KR" for Kryptonian. Wolf began scratching at the material on the wall which caused Conner to investigate. He found that there was a hidden door behind the material that he never knew about.

Conner opened it and went inside to discover that there are many more hyperbolic chambers being kept at the facility. As he journeyed further inside and noted all of the different genomorphs kept in cryofreeze, he came across one that was different from all of the others. When he wiped the fogginess from the glass, Conner saw that the specimen inside this chamber was a clone that looked exactly like him. It even had Superman's symbol on its chest like how he did. Conner immediately went to the controls and began to release him. The clone took its first breath and glared down at Conner. Conner decided to try and put it at ease.

"It's okay. You're free now." The clone saw Superman's symbol on Conner's chest and charged at him in a violent fit of rage. It tackled Conner to the ground hard. The clone was about to hit him with a powerful punch but Conner kicked the clone off of him and sent him flying into a nearby chamber. The clone leapt right back towards Conner and had him pinned against the glass of another chamber. Conner tried to placate it by saying that he was on its side, but one look at Conner's chest and the clone decided to ignore Conner and throw him down the isle of chambers. Conner wound up landing in a painful heap against the wall.

Wolf went to attack the clone for hurting hits master and friend, but the clone sent Wolf right towards where Conner had landed, causing Conner to have to catching his friend before he got hurt badly. The clone flew over to Conner and stared angrily at him, but Conner was still stuck on the fact that this clone could actually fly when he couldn't.

"You can fly? Why can you fly?" Conner's question was never answered as the clone dove straight towards Conner and struck him hard in the face. Conner recovered almost instantly and began to engage the clone in hand-to-hand combat. Conner showed great improvement in his defense against the clone thanks to his training with great fighters like Itachi and Black Canary. This clone wasn't even on the same planet as them in terms of fighting prowess. But Conner wound doing what he always does whenever he gets an advantage; get arrogant. It was because of this that the clone got a powerful uppercut in on him that sent him flying.

"I don't want to do this!" Conner said as he slowly got up from that last strike. The clone walked him down and delivered an even stronger right cross to Conner's jaw. It was so strong that Conner wound up ripping the clone's Superman symbol right from its chest. Wolf tried to attack the clone from behind but was quickly defeated by a backhand strike. Conner, having seen this, had had enough and put the clone in a full nelson joint lock.

"I'm trying to help you." The clone struggled for a minute before flying upwards and ramming Conner against the ceiling to get him to release the hold on him. It then body slammed Conner into the ceiling, harshly threw him back towards the ground, and landed a devastating two foot stomp right on Conner's chest which caused the entire battle field to go up in smoke from the impact. It roared in victory before noticing its reflection in the mirror next to it. It saw how it and Conner did look alike and that it was missing Superman's symbol on its chest like how Conner had. It used its heat vision to scar its flesh so that a backwards S was on it. It then suddenly gripped its head and shrieked in pain before passing out.

* * *

The Team members were starting to get worried about Conner. It was really getting late but the half-kryptonian still hadn't returned yet. Some of the Team wanted to go out and look for him. Black Canary and Aqualad were against that idea.

"Conner can take care of himself. If he hasn't signaled M'gann to ask for help, then we have to assume that he doesn't need any. Don't unnecessarily go out looking for dangerous risks to take when you don't have to. Wrath is still out there." Canary warned.

"The Masked Stranger is too. But if it makes you all feel any better, we will give Conner an hour before we send a small team out to look for him." Aqualad said to quell M'gann's worries.

"Thank you." They then all noticed Billy slowly stroll through despite him still being on sick-in-quarters orders. Canary and Wally Glared at him, "What are you doing, Billy. You're supposed to be in bed. I told you that I would bring you food."

"I know Wally but I couldn't sleep. Every time I close my eyes all I see is the Masked Stranger. Plus, I just don't want to be alone in that room anymore. I hate that room. I should be with the other Leaguers." Billy said with a raspy voice.

"Well until you are back at full strength, that room is where you're going to be. I have to abide by those rules and so does J'onn and we're adults. J'onn is in his room resting right now as he recovers. It's part of being a hero. Plus, you're foster family would throw a fit if you got further injured because you got impatient. Think of them for once." Canary said in a motherly tone.

"You can sit here and eat with us, but only if you promise to go right to bed afterwards with no arguments. Deal?" Wally bargained. Billy nodded before sitting in the spot meant for Conner. The boy saw how Carson was crying instead of eating and was about to comment, but one look from Artemis told him that he should probably hold his tongue. She suddenly got up and left the table. They all knew where she was heading; Itachi's memorial to mourn. They all felt bad for her.

' _That must be the girl they brought back with them. Itachi's…whatever she was to him. She's really taking this hard. I guess we all are in our own special way.'_ Billy thought sadly.

Back in Cadmus, Conner found himself dressed in his original Cadmus attire and sealed away in a hyperbolic chamber as Wolf howled. Conner angrily broke through the pod and freed himself. Guardian, Doctor Spence, and Dubbilex all came rushing in right after that. Doctor Spence tried to let Conner know that it was safe, but Conner was upset that they put him in a pod in the first place. They explained that it was the fastest way to heal Conner's injuries. Conner accused Doctor Spence of creating Project Match which was the project used to create the second super-clone. She was hurt by his accusation and walked off.

"Superboy please, she was just as shocked to see the security camera footage of this Match as I was." Guardian said while trying to defend the doctor.

"Where is he now?" Conner impatiently asked.

"We don't know. He…disappeared." Conner did not like that answer. Dubbilex explained that the cameras all went offline after their fight and that by the time that they had arrived, Match was gone. As it turns out, he wasn't the only genomorph to disappear.

When they all left, Conner went to a screen that had a video link to Lex Luthor. He had been watching everything from his limousine the entire time.

"So, the truth wasn't that hard to find after all. I assume you suffered no permanent damage?" Lex asked.

"Like you care. Tell me what you know about Project Match." Conner demanded.

"I know very little. I know more about you. Kryptonian DNA is notoriously difficult for human science to read. In fact, I have it on great authority that the organization that created Wrath was originally intending on creating a Kryptonian clone like you. They couldn't crack the code, but somehow got their hands on the DNA of the Crow. Wrath was born as a result and your friend Crow died as a consequence. When you were created, the gaps in sequences were bridged with human DNA, robbing you of your full Kryptonian powers. No flight, no heat vision, etc." Luthor explained.

"I'm…part human?" Conner asked as this revelation completely shocked him. Luthor nodded his head at him, "Yes. Obviously, your twin was created with pure Kryptonian DNA. The missing sequences have apparently left Match unstable and insane. It is believed by my sources that Wrath also suffered from these gaps in sequences which explain his volatile behavior. Though Wrath does seem less insane than Match now, he didn't start off that way. For one reason or another, Wrath was able to bridge the gaps in his DNA on his own. Now a better description of him is more cerebral and willing to use unethical means to satisfy his self-righteous goals, which could be even more dangerous. A madman with a brain. Match will not be able to fix himself because unlike Wrath, Match was made from Kryptonian DNA which is extremely unpredictable. I'd advise you to get him back on ice as soon as possible."

"Not gonna happen." Conner responded.

"Your call. Either way, you need help," Conner saw a compartment open up and reveal a case with Superman's symbol on it, "Consider these a gift. I call them shields. Stick one on your arm and it will suppress your human DNA for about an hour, allowing your Kryptonian powers to bloom. You will be as powerful as Match…and as Superman."

That shocked Conner to hear. It didn't stop him from lashing out and declaring that he wanted nothing from Lex. The billionaire smiled and told the clone to keep them anyway since he could always change his mind. Conner stared at the container before contemplating how he would to confront Match.

Conner changed back into his regular attire and went looking for Match. He saw that plenty of pods had been emptied and destroyed so he knew he was going in the right direction. He decided to contact Dubbilex to confirm some things Conner had theorized about.

" **Okay Dubbilex, spill. When I accused Spence, I could hear your heart rate increase. That usually comes from stress. You're hiding something."** Conner surmised. He thought Itachi would be proud of how much his detective sills had increased since knowing him.

" **From them, not you. I have questioned the oldest genomorphs. They told me that Match is not your younger brother. He was Cadmus' first attempt to clone Superman. His Kryptonian DNA rendered him uncontrollable so they froze him and tried again."** Dubbilex revealed.

" **Who are** _ **they**_ **? Desmond? Spence?"** Conner asked while trying to get to the truth.

" **Desmond, yes. And his superior and Cadmus founder, Lex Luthor."** Conner punched a nearby wall in anger after hearing that bit of news. Conner guessed that the bit of news meant that Luthor must have taken Match. Dubbilex refuted that and told Conner that it was in fact him who took the clone.

Conner started following Dubbilex's directions as he was being led to Match's hiding place. He was led to a hidden passageway that took Conner to an underground chamber that held countless genomorphs. Dubbilex revealed himself to Conner finally, "Welcome, brother, to Genomorph City."

"So you're responsible for the missing Genomorphs." Conner figured.

"I am. One by one, I have liberated them just like you were liberated long ago. I brought them here to live a new life where all our brothers can be free. Of course, I have a dream that one day the world you live in will accept us. But for now, no one must know Genomorph City exists. Which is why I brought our brother here." Conner saw that Match was chained to a stanchion and held in solitude. Genomorphs were using their psychic powers to keep the clone quelled just for safety measures.

"What have you done to him?" Conner demanded.

"He is safe. The genomes keep him docile with their psychic abilities." Dubbilex explained.

"And the chains?!" Conner angrily demanded.

"Should he escape in his current condition, he could set back the genomorph cause by decades." The genomorph explained.

"So you hold him prisoner like how Cadmus held me?! You might as well put him in pod!" They kept arguing as the clone started focusing in on them. It saw the Superman symbol on Conner's chest and began to get riled up. It broke through its chains and tackled Conner into a nearby wall. Wolf jumped in the fight but was knocked aside by Match. The clone even tried to attack Dubbilex and wound up sending him hurdling across the ground.

Conner recovered from the attack but was hit by Match's heat vision and was then tackled again through the wall. Match kept on the assault by using his flight and full Kryptonian powers to overwhelm Superboy. Conner soon found himself being hammer-fisted to the ground and creating a massive crater. He was getting desperate and pulled out the container of shields that Luthor left him.

' _This might be my only way to defeat him.'_ Conner desperately thought. He put a shield on his arm to activate his full Kryptonian powers. He immediately felt stronger. When Match flew at him and tackled him against a wall, Conner barely felt it. Match tried punching Superboy in the face, but his fist was caught before impact was made. Conner threw and connected with a powerful uppercut that sent Match flying. Match recovered and flew right back at Conner, who charged right back at him.

They collided midair and fell back to the ground. Conner then realized that he had actually flew but before he could celebrate too much, Match carved himself a weapon via heat vision to use against Conner. Conner used his own heat vision, for the first time, to deter Match and keep him at a distance. They flew at each other again and clashed continually while still in midflight.

Match got a short advantage when he punched Conner and used heat vision to burn his eyes. Conner countered by grabbing Match and tossing him to the ground as hard as he could. Despite not being able to see, Conner could hear Match's heartbeat and used that to track him down and tackle him to the ground. Superboy began wailing on Match with powerful ground and pound strikes. Though Match had already been defeated, Superboy kept striking him. It wasn't until Guardian and his security detail showed up that Conner would eventually stop.

"He's down. You won." Conner looked at him and back at Match before getting up. Dubbilex looked down in defeat as he knew his people would be forced out of Genomorph City and back into manual labor for Cadmus. Conner realized this too as he saw that the security detail were all armed.

Match was returned to his pod to be frozen once again. Guardian knew Conner hated that it came to this but assured him that it had to be this way. Conner, despite all of his beliefs, knew that Guardian was right.

' _This must be what Itachi had to go through his entire life. To act in a way that goes against his morals not because he wants to, but because life gave him no other choice. It's almost funny. I understand you more in death than I ever did in life, my friend. To fight someone who looks like you and sounds like you, but act like a completely different stranger is frightening. It's not only a reminder of everything that you're not, it is a reminder of the monster you could have been…you could still be. You fought and died to that. I hate that you suffered like that. I wish…I wish I could have saved you, Itachi.'_ Conner sadly thought as he shed a tear without anyone seeing.

* * *

Conner made it back topside to confront Lex Luthor on a couple of things he had discovered while fighting Match, "There was a tracker in that tin box you gave me."

"Yes, I assume you discovered it with your X-ray vision." Lex smugly answered. Conner was pissed and in no mood for any of it though.

"You initiated the cloning projects!" Conner angrily said. Lex kept his smug look like it was business as usual, "I wanted Superman to meet his match."

"And you used both of us to locate the missing genomorphs." Conner accused. One of the very first lessons Itachi had taught him was recognize when he was being used. Luthor didn't even try to deny it, "A good businessman has to keep track of his assets. But none of that is what really bothers you. Half your DNA is human. Haven't you wondered who the donor was? Or have you just been afraid to acknowledge the obvious? Face it, son, you have much more in common with me than you ever did with Superman."

"That's a lie!" Conner refused to believe that Lex Luthor was his father.

"And what did he ever give you? Nothing. Not even affection. And why? Because big boy blue lives in a world of black and white. You were created by the bad guys so there must be something wrong with you. But we both know life isn't that clear cut. Your friend Crow should be more than enough example of that. The real world is full of grays. Weren't you determined to free Match at all costs? Yet ultimately, you wisely agreed to my suggestion to refreeze him for the greater good of all. Look what just happened to Gotham. Even with me funding the repairs, it will still be a while before that city recovers everything it lost from E-Day. What if Match was fighting alongside Wrath? What if Wrath discovers his existence and decides to free him? How would the League fight that? Especially with Superman and Crow being dead. And though you think me a villain, you still used my shields. We're more alike than you want to admit." Lex said as his words struck Superboy at his very core.

"Take them back." Conner tried to return the shields to Luthor, but the man refused.

"They're a gift from a father to his son." Lex responded. Conner got really close now and grabbed Lex by his lapels to threaten him, "I won't need them for this."

"Red Sun." Lex said as Conner suddenly went offline. When he came back to, Lex was gone and it was suddenly dark again.

"Two words and he shut me down. What else can he make me do?" Conner asked himself. He noticed the box of shields in his hand and started to chuck them away, but stopped in the last second. He remembered Itachi speaking on the Will of Fire and what it was. According to Itachi, The Will of Fire was the ability to do or be anything your home needed in order for your home to stay protected.

' _My friends are my home. This planet is my home. I have to protect them at all costs. I may not be strong enough to, but Superman is. But with Superman gone, no one will protect Earth. But with these shields, I can be Superman. Even if it's just for an hour at a time, even if it's hypocritical of me, this is the right thing to do. It's what Itachi would and did do his entire life. He gave up his own desires for the safety of others. And I will too. I will be Superman.'_ Conner solemnly thought as he and Wolf started to head back to the Cave.

* * *

When Conner got back to the Cave he received a massive scolding from Black Canary. She made sure to emphasize that up and leaving without telling anyone where you're going and not returning for more than 24 hours later was unacceptable. Conner thought it was amazing she could raise her voice that much considering she just had it crushed weeks ago.

When Canary was done, Kaldur spoke with Conner, only in a more civilized tone. Kaldur especially made sure to scold Conner on his lack of awareness. With everything going on with the public view on heroes, they couldn't afford any missteps. Conner capitulated and promised to be more considerate of the situation.

As punishment for his actions, Conner had extra chore duty for the next month. Conner didn't argue the punishment and went to go eat whatever leftovers were saved. Wolf sat next to him and started eating scraps of Conner's food. M'gann joined him at the table after giving him a kiss on his forehead. He knew he had to make up for probably worrying her sick.

M'gann was part of the team that was out looking for Conner. She was relieved to hear from Robin that Conner had returned, though that soon turned to anger for him pulling that stunt in the first place. But after hearing the lashing that he got from Black Canary she knew that anything more would just be unnecessary. So she decided to talk to him to try and see what he was thinking.

"So, where did you wind up going with Wolf?" She asked in a very awkward manner.

"I took him for a walk and we got lost." Conner said in a very obvious lie to his girlfriend. He hated doing it, but he couldn't risk letting the League know about there being a second super-clone or that Lex Luthor was technically his father. He hated lying to her, but it was what was for the best.

"Oh, I see…" M'gann responded. They both knew that Conner was lying. It hurt her that he felt that he couldn't be honest with her when all she did was care about him. M'gann assumed that whatever happened must have been really big for an openly blunt guy like Conner to feel like he had to lie. Conner gave the same answer to the others when they asked, but she thought that she would be the exception. It's clear to her now that she was wrong.

She got up off the table and left. Conner called out to her, "M'gann, where are you going?"

"I just remembered that I promised Robin that I would check on Carson. Make sure she's alright and stuff. Well, I'm glad you're back. Please don't do that again. I don't what I would do if something ever happened to you. You and J'onn are the closest thing I have left in life to family…especially with Itachi being…" M'gann couldn't even finish the sentence it made her so sad.

"I'm sorry." Conner replied. He hated seeing her like this and he hated even more that it was because of him. For what it's worth, M'gann gave him a small smile before heading out. She figure that after getting some sleep that she'd be able to forgive him for this, but now she was curious about what Conner was hiding so much. Though she knew she couldn't be too judgmental of him considering she was still hiding what she really looked like. Itachi probably died being ashamed of her because of it.

When M'gann made it to the Cave memorial site she found Carson in front of Itachi's memorial hologram praying. M'gann decided to wait till the girl was done before making hers presence known.

Carson finished her prayer and turned to see Miss Martian looking at her from the memorial entrance, "Oh, Miss Martian. I didn't notice you come in. I'm sorry. I was just saying my evening prayer. I just like to come here and be alone with him. The look in his eyes. Itachi once told me that his eyes were a reflection of his heart. I guess by the look in his eyes that Itachi really was filled with sadness."

"Please, you can call me M'gann. And you don't have to apologize. We all have special things we do to feel connected to past loved ones." M'gann said.

"Current. Itachi still is a current loved one." Carson said with the first hopeful smile she's had in weeks.

"What do you mean? Itachi…he's-" Carson cut her off, "Not dead. I don't think he's dead. There might be a way we can save him."

"Carson, you saw Wrath stab him with Itachi's blade." M'gann said while trying to lightly dispel the girl's false hope. She figured this must be a step in her grieving process.

"This isn't false hope and I'm not being delusional. I can feel Itachi's presence. It's almost as if he's right next to me. You have to be able to feel him too." Carson explained.

"Yeah, but that's probably just because he used to linger here whenever he felt like being alone. This was his favorite spot in the Cave." M'gann answered.

"No, Itachi once told me that people disappear when they die. Their spirit goes to the afterlife and no trace of them is left behind. But you just admitted that you feel him here just like I do. That means part of his spirit is still here, which means-" Carson was interrupted be an unexpected voice.

"That Itachi is still alive somewhere. That is good enough for me." They turned and saw Kaldur, Robin, Zatanna, and Artemis walk in. M'gann and Carson were shocked to see them. Artemis walked to her friend with a smile, "We think he's alive too. And we plan on getting him back."

"Yeah, I've had enough moping around. It's time we got some payback on Wrath." Robin added.

"The blade Wrath stabbed Itachi with is the Totsuka Blade. Itachi once explained that it is meant for sealing, not killing. It is a theory, but I believe both him and Superman are alive and can be brought back to us." Kaldur explained.

"But not even Itachi knew how to release someone that was sealed with that sword. How can we hope to do something that not even he could?" M'gann asked.

"That dork doesn't know everything. There just has to be a way to free him if he really is just sealed away somewhere." Carson said as hope kept returning to her.

"We think we might have found a way to free him. Itachi once said that magic is the closest thing this world has to chakra. So if anyone is able to get him back, it would be me. I'll use my magic to open a portal to where Itachi is being kept and free him and Superman. Then we'll give Wrath everything the jerk has coming." Zatanna revealed.

"Robin and I just found out that the League plans on going to Arkham Asylum in preparation of an attack by Wrath. Well before that happens, we will be sent to strike him first. Because of James, we now know exactly where his hiding place is at. Batman and the other Leaguers have been monitoring it for weeks. It's how we came to learn of Wrath's planned attack on Arkham. It is about time we make him the reactor to us." Kaldur declared.

"He plans on striking while we're down, but he won't expect us to strike him first. He plans on wiping out all of the metahuman occupants in the ward. We'll stop him before that happens because we'll have Itachi with us and together we're unstoppable." Artemis said.

M'gann began tearing up with all of the hope she was getting. She soon wiped her tears, got in her superhero costume, and put her game face on. She only had one question, "So when are we getting out friend back?"

They all smiled. Zatanna conjured up a mystic spellbook before giving her answer, "Right now."

They all hurriedly got behind the sorceress so that they could begin. Carson couldn't help but smile. She felt she'd finally be able to say everything she felt had slipped away from her. This time, she'd make the most with her time with Itachi. Robin was eager to do this too, "Are you ready, Zatanna?"

"Always ready! Nepo eht yawrood taht sdael ot Ihcati!"

* * *

That's another down the pipe. You can't keep a good team down. They've been taking heavy losses for the last few chapters, but now they're about to show the world why they are heroes! Sorry for the lack of Wrath and Itachi, but I really wanted this chapter to focus on the other heroes and how they were all coping with Itachi's loss. They deserve some character development too. But don't worry, the two Uchiha will return next chapter. Thanks for the love last chapter as well. It warms my heart to see that you all like these chapters. Make sure to follow, favorite, or review. Even if it's a constructive criticism, I read it all and take it into consideration when I write future installments. Well, until next time guys and gals!


	34. Wake Up

**Abciluvpie: Itachi doesn't kill because he doesn't need to and he's always hated unnecessary violence. He doesn't like owing Artemis because he knows she's still an immature girl with immature ideas.**

 **Anime hotty lover.18: Thanks I truly appreciate the support you've given me. You're the best!**

 **Brave2000: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Pain definitely is a factor in this chapter in more ways than one.**

 **Djberneman: The only person who knows that is Itachi though. Nobody else knows who Ms Yumi really is so there would be no way for her to either contact them or assist in retrieving Itachi.**

 **502nickster: How have you been, my friend? Yeah, I understand that criticism but I just wanted to make the world have Narutoverse stakes since it is a Narutoverse fight. When this arch is over it will start to become more like the Young Justice Universe again, at least until the final arc.**

 **Rio Skyron: I'm glad you liked that. I wanted to show that Itachi isn't the only character that can grow with development in this story.**

 **Andresskorskiruiz: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the read.**

 **Guest: I got chill just by writing so I know how you feel.**

 **Devingo1999: Thank you! That's one of the best compliments I've ever received. I've always hated how in these great calamites/disasters how everyone seemed to move on just like that. I wanted this loss to feel real. I enjoy a fun story just as much as the next fan, but loss has to have meaning behind, or else it's not really a loss in my opinion. Thanks again.**

 **The Real Hell Fire: Itachi didn't use the perfect Susanoo because they were fighting in a city full of people and that would have done even more damage. It's why Wrath wanted to fight him there so badly. He wanted to limit just how hard Itachi could fight him and he won because of it.**

 **Guest: Okay?**

 **Guest: I won't spoil the Itachi/Wrath final fight but his future with Carson will hit a major roadblock as you will read in this chapter when Itachi makes a life changing decision.**

 **Matthew5641: I'm happy to see that you're so excited. The plot with pain will be explained by the end of the next chapter after this so stay tuned.**

 **Help I have No Social Life: Hey, no harm no foul on me. I'm a big boy and I can take criticism. That's how you feel and I respect and appreciate that. It's why I love being a fellow fan like yourself. Now with that being said, I don't think I've underpowered Itachi. In fact, I've given him more power than he had back in the Narutoverse. I just chose not to make him this senseless murderer because we've already seen that before and he doesn't even have to do that in this world. He hates unnecessary violence so having him kill every bad guy seemed silly to me and having him crush everyone is just a bad story. It is how WB/DC got into the mess they're in now with Superman in their DCEU thanks to bad storytelling. Though I LOVE Man of Steel, the majority of people were iffy on it which led to a movie that should have made a billion dollars only making under 700 million. I will always prefer a great story over a powerful character. But hey, like I said before it's your opinion and I appreciate you for sharing it with me. I'll definitely take into account on future chapter like how I do with every review. (Except for the reviewer who told me to go f$#! myself. I don't know what to do with that, lol.)**

* * *

Darkness. That was all Itachi saw as he sunk deeper and deeper into a pit of despair. Time seemed to be obsolete in this world. Itachi didn't know how much time he's been in this hell. It felt like eternity to him. And despite that feeling of constant loneliness and doom, Itachi still felt that this was better than being alive.

' _I can't hurt anyone while trapped in here. I can just disappear.'_ Itachi stoically thought as he continued to sink. One of the side effects to Itachi being in this genjutsu hell was that it was slowly sucking out his will to live and fight. Good thing for Itachi, he had an ally here who was willing to help bring him out of the darkness.

"Universal Pull!"

Itachi found himself being propelled upwards. The force pulling him felt divine in nature as a glimmer of light could finally be seen by Itachi. That glimmer soon became a giant ray as Itachi flew out of the ocean of blood and landed on a new patch of land. The Uchiha noticed that he wasn't the only one on that patch of land. A hooded figure was there too. The ghosts of Itachi's past tried to follow him to bring him back to the darkness, but two more words kept them away as a figure held a hand out and used another jutsu.

"Almighty Push!" The vengeful spirits, along with the ocean of blood, were sent back down to the depths from which they came. Only Itachi's former lover Izumi remained. She held a hand out to Itachi while crying.

"Don't leave us. Itachi, we're your family. You belong with us. I love you." Izumi plead. Itachi began to reach out to her, but the hand of the hooded figure slapped it away and threw Itachi to the ground behind him. Izumi began to morph into her undead form as she glared at the person who dared to defy her wishes.

"Stay away from him! His fate belongs to us!" She screamed as she got ready to attack. The figure wasn't phased by her lash out. She lunged at him but his abilities far surpassed hers.

"Be gone foul spirit. You have no power of Itachi any longer. His story isn't over for there are still chapters in his life that are still yet to be revealed. But yours, on the other hand, is over. Summoning Jutsu: Gedo Statue!" A gigantic and demonic statue was summoned from the ground.

It roared in anger before the figure turned it towards the spirit that was taking the form of Izumi. The Gedo Statue unleashed a ferocious shriek as a purple chakra in the form of a dragon was emitted from the creature's mouth. The chakra dragon flew right through Izumi, taking her impure spirit with it, and flew right into the blood ocean. Itachi slowly got to his feet as the figure stepped forward.

"Make sure no other spirit interrupts us." The figure commanded as the Gedo Statue did what it was told. The chakra dragon began to act as a guard dog that attacked any spirit that got within close proximity of the pair above ground. Itachi knew who his savior was as there was only one person he knew that could be sealed inside the Totsuka Blade that possessed a true Rinnegan.

"Nagato, I see you're still here." Itachi commented. Nagato laughed at the bluntness of his Akatsuki brother and friend, "I see you're as blunt as always. Yes, I still dwell inside of the Totsuka Blade."

"But I released the Reanimation Jutsu that kept your spirit alive. You should have been released from this plain of existence." Itachi said.

"Yes, that is true, if I were on Earth when you released the Reanimation Jutsu. This place isn't held to the same standards as the rules of man. It seems my spirit must remain here for all eternity." Nagato revealed.

"How are you not in a genjutsu? You should have been trapped like how I was." Itachi surmised.

"It's a good thing that the rules of man don't apply to me either. My Rinnegan has protected me from the effects of this genjutsu world. I mostly wander here aimlessly with no goal in sight. Imagine my surprise when I saw you falling from the sky and then drowning in blood. I take it something otherworldly must have happened for you to get here since you did just say that you released the Reanimation Jutsu. Mind filling me in?" Nagato requested.

"It's a long story." Itachi vaguely said. Nagato looked around in an exaggerated to prove his next point, "Have you seen where we are? We have plenty of time."

They sat down as Itachi told his ally about everything that happened after his spirit was released. Nagato was shocked to hear that the Sage of Six Paths brought him back like that and also by just how much Itachi had gone through since being revived, "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, but now is not the time to quit. You must defeat your clone."

"What's the point? Wrath has already won. He exposed me for what I am. I am-" He was cut off by Nagato, "A liar, a murderer and a failure. All of the things I liked about you when I recruited you to the Akatsuki."

"You didn't recruit me, Madara did. If my memory serves me right, the deal was that if I joined the Akatsuki that my village would be spared. Imagine my surprise when my clone informed me that you wiped out my village shortly after my death. Is that true?" Itachi dangerously asked.

"Yes, I was a different man back then. I was wrong to do that to your village. But in my defense, your village attacked my home first and I made no such agreement to spare your village. Though, after realizing how wrong I was, I used my RinneRebirth to bring all of those that I killed from your village back to life. I am proof that we are not defined by our greatest defeats or failures." Nagato answered.

"It's not like there is a way out of here anyways. There's nothing left for me to do but mull on how I lost. It's over." Itachi stated.

"I see. Tell me, since there is no way out of this realm, where is that snake Orochimaru at then? When I was first sealed in here, that traitor was suffering along with me, but he hasn't been seen or heard of in months. In fact, I haven't sensed his presence at all." Nagato noted.

"But how can that be?" Itachi asked.

"Because…he escaped. This prison of a world that you are so resolved to perish in does have a doorway out. Remember, any door that can be closed can also be opened. Itachi, you can leave this place if you want, but what happens after that?" Nagato asked.

"I fight Wrath and beat him." Itachi simply said.

"No, that's not good enough. If you left as you were right now, Wrath would just defeat you again. The reason Orochimaru was able to escape wasn't simply because someone summoned him out of here. It was because that man changed, for the better, and decided that how he was living his life up to that point wasn't good enough. He decided to become his true self again. The self that Orochimaru discarded as a boy after the loss of his parents. It was only then that this world no longer held any power over him. You must do the same if you are to ever truly escape this world, Itachi." Nagato explained.

"This is not the Izanami. Finding my true self won't undo this hell of a world." Itachi argued.

"No, but it will prepare you for what happens when you eventually do leave this world. I believe that the reason you lost to Wrath is because you spent half of your effort between fighting Wrath and fighting yourself. Even now, I can still feel the conflict inside of you. Here in this world, you can finally hash things out with yourself like how you should have done years ago. That way when you fight Wrath this one last time, it will truly just be Itachi versus Wrath." Nagato wisely said.

"But how do I even begin to do that?" Itachi asked.

"The same way you were able to force yourself to massacre your entire clan and family; one step at a time." Just as Nagato said that, a giant portal in the sky opened. It revealed Itachi's teammates and Carson all looking through it. It looked like they were yelling something, but Itachi couldn't hear them. He was about to reach out for them when Nagato spoke a warning, "If you leave now, you will never get this opportunity again. I know your first instinct is always to stop and help others, but don't you think it's time for you to finally help yourself. No matter how many friends you make or people you save, none of them will be able to fix what's broken inside of you. Wrath fixed himself all on his own and so must you if you are to ever stop him." He warned.

After hearing that, Itachi thought hard and wound up put his arm back down. Outside in the real world, the others began panicking as they saw Itachi start to walk away from them.

"No you idiot! You're supposed to walk towards us." Artemis muttered.

"I don't think he can hear us. He looks confused and is talking to himself for some reason." M'gann commented.

"Zatanna, how much longer can you hold up the portal?" Robin asked.

"Not much longer. I only have a few minutes left before I have to close it." She frantically said as she struggled to keep the portal open. Carson began getting desperate after hearing that.

"Itachi, please listen to us! We're your friends! Itachi!" She shouted but he started walking away from them.

"I'm going in." Artemis declared. Aqualad emphatically shot that idea down, "No! We don't know what type of effects that world is having on him. We must not act without first establishing a plan."

"But Kaldur-"

"No, he's right. We don't even know how you'd get back if we did let you go inside. Itachi described that world as genjutsu hell. Itachi…might already be broken. We can't risk losing anyone else without having a plan first." Robin added.

"We are not giving up!" Artemis yelled as she got face-to-face with Robin. It was up to Aqualad to calm her down, "Nobody said that we are giving up on him. We just need to regroup and try this again at another time. The most important this is that we now know that there is a way we can get to him and Superman now. Zatanna, you can close the portal."

Carson gave one last sad look as the view of Itachi got smaller and smaller. Before the portal closed completely, she spoke some parting words to him, "We're getting you out of there. This isn't over yet so please, just hang on a little while longer."

The portal closed and Zatanna dropped to her knees in exhaustion. Opening portals to other universes was hard work. Eventually, they all decided to head upstairs to relay what they discovered to the others. They stared at the memorial of Itachi and finally had hope that they could bring their friend home eventually.

Itachi went towards Nagato after decided to try it his way. Nagato thanked him before disintegrating into dust, "Now, it is up to you. Itachi, you must find your true self just as Orochimaru once did. I cannot help you on this journey. This is something you must do on your own. But first,"

Itachi experienced great pain as he felt his eyes being ripped from his eye sockets. Blood started pouring as he dropped to a knee from the pain. He called out to Nagato, but the man was gone only his words were left, "If you want your eyes back, go back to where it all began."

"Where it all began? What does that even mean?" Itachi asked to himself as he started wandering off aimlessly since he had no vision or idea of where he was going. He knew he was on his own from here on out. He started this, so it only made sense that Itachi was the one to end this. The Uchiha found what he was looking for when he heard the screeching of multiple crows could be heard. Even though he had no vision, Itachi knew who he was standing in front of.

"I've been waiting a long time to meet you. It must be a shock for you, huh? You got rid of me years ago. I take it this must mean that my life is filled with even more pain and death than it is now. I'm sorry, where are my manners? I am Itachi Uchiha, or at least I should say that I am a version of Itachi Uchiha." Itachi was indeed in front of a younger version of himself. The boy looked just like Itachi did right after Sasuke was just born. It was like being haunted by a ghost for Itachi.

"Come on, let's go. I have a lot to show you." The boy said as he got a hold of Itachi's hand and led him to their next destination.

"Where are we going?" The adult Itachi asked.

"First, we're going to see when exactly you became so lost and angry at me. Then, we're going to meet the others." The boy said stoically. Itachi forgot what that felt like it had been so long. Itachi caught what the boy said at the end and decided to have that statement clarified.

"The others? What do you mean by that?" Adult Itachi asked.

"Yup, the others. And I don't want to ruin the surprise. I'm not the only one who's wanted to see you again so let's go." The boy said as they started running faster.

* * *

In the real world, a day had passed since the attempt to bring back Itachi and Superman from the Tsukuyomi world. Canary was not pleased when she found out just what they had attempted to do. Her argument was that because they didn't know what they were doing that they should have waited until one of the adults arrived. If something had went wrong, no one would have been able to save them. But after the stern lecture, Canary pulled them into a group hug. She knew it must have been heartbreaking to be so close to Itachi just to watch him walk away from them.

"Well, at least we know that there's a chance for us to save them. I just hope that we can hold down the fort here until we actually do. Wrath is going to be active pretty soon and we will have to be ready without the League's biggest powerhouse or the Team's for that matter. I'll go inform the other Leaguers about this but for now you all just rest up and stay vigilant. And good job for what it's worth." Canary said as she went to the communications room.

She left out of the room as the members of the Team all stewed in disappointment. They really wished that they could have brought their friend back. They didn't care about the abilities Itachi had that could help them with Wrath. They wanted Itachi back because he is their friend and they truly miss them.

"What do we do now?" M'gann asked. Kaldur looked up with a determined look, "We keep moving forward. Itachi would want us to keep fighting. Wrath needs to be brought down and that task is only something we can accomplish. We must prepare for when that time comes."

"But when are we going to try and get Itachi out again?" Carson asked desperately.

"Soon, but please give us time. I want him back just as much as you do, but it's gonna take time. Zatanna is still exhausted from yesterday, and she only held the portal open for a few minutes. We didn't even see Superman with Itachi. Maybe listening to Canary might be what's best for now." Artemis replied.

Carson put her head down in disappointment. Robin was about to speak before James came walking in. He had just gotten off the phone. He looked like he had some good news to deliver.

"Thanks to Ms. Waller, I now have an in to the Argus secret facility that Wrath is holed up inside of. It's an entrance that not even Wrath could know about because it's not on the grid. At least now we can finally have the jump on him." James said.

Carson still could barely look at her brother without feeling rage so she said nothing. Robin got up and shook his hand, "Thank you. Despite everything that's transpired in the past, I'm thankful that you're here to help us. We will need it and more in order to bring Wrath to justice."

"Don't mention it. When you all decide to move in on Wrath, make sure you nail that bastard for all of the chaos that he has caused. I don't know how or why, but for some reason Wrath actually thinks that he is the good guy. The crazy bastard." James noted.

"You're wrong. I was in that cavern with you and Wrath. He openly admitted to being the bad guy and was honest about how he felt and what he planned on doing. You should try it some time, dearest brother." Carson said before angrily storming off.

The awkward exchange really showed how some wounds from E-Day still hadn't healed and it will be a miracle if they ever do heal.

* * *

Wrath was sharpening his sword when he felt a familiar presence, "Long time no see. Looks like you've been busy since we last met. What, blowing a hole in Gotham wasn't good enough so you decide to level it too? And redecorating? I'm no building expert, but even I know that the sticky stuff you used to fight Crow shouldn't be plastered all over the place. It's disturbing."

"What are you doing here, Cheshire?" Wrath asked as he turned towards his associate and got straight to the point. She started twirling her hair, "Oh, I brought you a visitor. She's been dying to see you."

This left Wrath confused until a young girl came running in and gave Wrath a strong, yet affectionate hug, "Cassandra? What are you doing here?"

"I want see you. I saw battle and was worried. Glad you okay." She said with a big smile on her face as she looked up at him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. You should see the other guy. I'm glad you're okay too. How has your new family been treating you?" Wrath asked.

"They fine. Wish you were dad. Miss you." She answered. Wrath was grateful to hear that she was doing a lot better since they last saw each other, "Good. Always remember to always keep moving forward and never stop fighting. This world will finally be a better place."

"I glad. Please stay safe, Wrath. You my family." Cassandra warmly said.

"Off of one meeting? You know I'm a monster right? I'm the bad guy of this story." Wrath sadly said to her. She shook her head and pointed to her heart, "You bad guy, but you have good heart. You care about me. World make you this way. I just want see you smile again." Cassandra said as her words touched Wrath's heart.

"Th-thank you. You don't know how much hearing you say that means to me. I will smile, someday. But I still have work to do. A couple of supervillains in prison still need to die." Wrath darkly said.

"Which is why I'm here. Besides getting the brat to stop bugging me about checking in on you, my superiors want you to…tread cautiously. Maybe hold off on your plan to wipeout all of Arkham Asylum? My superiors still have allies that they need to break out, but after they do you can kill as many of them as you want." Cheshire said as she revealed the true reason for her visit. Wrath did not look amused.

"Do I look like I care? They all die. If your superiors have a problem with that, they know where I live. I'm done waiting for the world to change. On E-Day, I exposed the Justice League for the frauds that they are. Now no one can oppose me." Wrath declared as he got face to face with Cheshire. She was beginning to see what her bosses meant when they mention how frightening Wrath could be. But even then, she still held her ground, especially with her new pupil watching her.

"Don't cross the Light. It won't end well for you. I get that you and the Masked Stranger are close, but the Masked Stranger isn't going to be able to protect you if you keep poking the bear. So back off." She threatened.

"Cheshire, the only reason I haven't cut you down already is because of what you did for me when you agreed to adopt Cassandra and make her strong, but if you ever threaten me again, I promise you that 'poking the bear' will quickly turn into skinning the cat. Do I make myself clear?" Wrath threatened.

"Crystal." The villain replied. Wrath was glad to hear that, "Good, you can leave now. I still have preparations to make before I launch my assault on Arkham."

"Very well. A little word of advice; never wound what you can't kill. Later, for now. Cassandra, say goodbye. We will resume your training shortly. Don't expect another visit for quite some time so I suggest you make this one last. I'll be waiting outside." Cheshire said before walking out.

"Goodbye Wrath. Will miss you." Cassandra said as she hugged her friend again. Wrath reciprocated the hug. He really cares about Cassandra and wants her to be happy. It's why he knows he can't let her go down the same dark path he is on, "Don't let the darkness consume you. But don't let the light blind you either. Be your own person, Cassandra. Be free. I'll never stop thinking about you."

"We meet again?" Cassandra asked. Wrath didn't know the answer to that question. He truly hoped that he could see her grow up in the new world he planned on creating. There's only one person on this planet whose future he was more invested in than hers. So for now, Wrath decided to part her with this promise, "I promise that you'll see me again if you promise to smile for me one last time. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal." Cassandra answered as she smiled up at the Uchiha. He let her go as she ran outside to meet Cheshire. The villain was shocked at how human Wrath could be. He definitely was more than she expected. The same could be said for how close Cassandra and him were. In the end, Jade guessed that she shouldn't be too shocked.

' _Two people that were cast aside from society that somehow found a way to each other. It's no wonder they're so close to one another. I wish they could both have a happy ending but that's just not how the world works. Once I tell the Light that Wrath won't back off, things will get ugly. I just have to make sure Cassandra is far away from the chaos. She's lost too much already. Christ, look at you Jade. You've gone soft like your dear little sister.'_ Jade thought as Cassandra came running out.

"You're late! That's going to be twenty extra sprints for the twenty seconds of my time that you wasted." Cheshire barked out.

"Yes sensei." Cassandra said as she bowed her head in respect. Jade shook her head before walking off, "Let's just go. Ra's will want to know how this meeting went. Time to return to Nanda Parbat."

* * *

The now blind Itachi was being led by his younger self to a scene that was all too familiar to Itachi. It was right after he had just murdered his mother and father. It was the moment when Itachi permanently casted aside his true self so that he could embody the Will of Fire and become exactly what his village needed him to be: a liar, murderer, traitor, terrorist, and spy. It was the moment Itachi became someone else, or more like when he became something else.

Even without his eyes, Itachi knew where he was at by the sound of the flesh being torn from his parents, the blood that splattered all over the room, and the loud thud his parents made as their corpses hit the ground. Itachi could die a thousand times and never forget that sequence of sounds.

Itachi knew at this point that he was wiping the tears from his eyes in preparation of his confrontation with his brother, Sasuke. He had to make his defection look authentic and scare Sasuke so badly that the boy would hate him for the rest of his life. Itachi turned towards the door as he expected his brother to show up. To his surprise, the next sound Itachi heard wasn't the sound of his brother walking in to see his parents dead on the floor. It was the sound of the now Itachi from this memory saying something that the real-time Itachi knows he didn't say when this originally happened.

"Who the hell are you?" The now rogue Itachi said. Itachi turned towards the younger self that led him here as the other Itachi aimed his bloody sword at both of them. The young boy stepped in between them to try and placate the situation, "He needs our help. He's trying to find his true self again."

The rogue Itachi sheathed his sword after hearing that and began to get a closer look at his older self. The current Itachi had no idea what was going on now. He had no idea whether this was caused by the Totsuka Blade's genjutsu or if something even more powerful was causing this. The rogue Itachi gave real Itachi a cold gaze. It was as if he was peeking into Itachi's very soul.

"I see. So this is the fate that waits for me at the end of this path. So why are you seeking out your true self now? You had no problem living your lie to the bitter end last I checked. What's changed?" The rogue shinobi asked.

"I have to save my friends from this great threat." Itachi answered. The rogue scoffed at his answered, "You're Itachi Uchiha. You have no friends. Only people that you will leave behind eventually on your path to Hell. I know that because I just got done killing all of my friends. How was it?"

"How was what?" The real Itachi responded. The rogue ninja pointed to the dark side of the room where the light from outside couldn't reach, "How was it living that beautiful, dark lie. To commit sins so great that you could be brought back to life a hundred times and still never know peace again. How was it?"

"It was Hell," Itachi answered. He felt something wet touch his feet and looked towards where his parents' corpses lay. Their blood was already beginning to feel cold to him. Itachi looked back at both of his former selves, "But I'd do it again a thousand times over so that no one else would have to. I will do what the Sage asked of me and defeat both Wrath and the Masked Stranger. It's why I need to get out of here."

"What if that leads to you going back into Hell? What if you had to watch kill someone close to you again like how you had to kill mother and father? Could you do it? Can you embrace the darkness again now that you've felt the light? Even if it only leads to your death again in the end?" The rogue Itachi asked.

"I died with the Uchiha on that fateful night. You should know that." Itachi answered. The rogue Itachi cracked the smallest of smiles at his older self before tearing out his left eye to give to the real Itachi, "You will need this then. An eye that can remember the past even if it's shrouded in darkness. It will always remind you of who you are."

Itachi took the eye and implanted it into his left eye socket. Itachi's vision, or at least half of it, had been restored. He immediately activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. And just in time because the environment around him changed into a new setting. Itachi now found himself into a blank, all white void of a space. He also was surrounded by a handful of people; himself or at least several alternate versions of himself.

All formed in a circle around the real Itachi were the young Itachi that he had originally met at the beginning of this trip, a slightly older version of that Itachi that look about the age Itachi was when his team was slaughtered and he first awoke his sharingan, the rogue Itachi who had just given his eye to him, the Itachi that was a member of the Akatsuki, the Itachi was on the verge of death from his disease, the Itachi that had been brought back because of Kabuto's Reanimation Jutsu, the Crow, and the last, being biggest surprise of all, was Wrath.

Itachi glared at Wrath as the clone smirked back at him. Itachi had no idea what was going on, but he had had enough of this, "Tell me what this is right now before I burn away everything in sight."

Itachi's youngest side stepped forward and explained what was happening, "This is it. This is where you choose what path your future will take you towards. This is every version of you that has ever been called Itachi Uchiha. You got here when you accepted the darkness back into your heart. You are where your true self has been hiding ever since you cast him out. Now here we all are. You must now choose which of us is the real you and depending on your choice; you can either gain a new power that will help you save the world or choose wrong and never be heard from again. Your body and soul will never be found. You will simply vanish. I ask you, Itachi Uchiha, have you learned the truth about yourself? Will you truly embrace what you always have been? For if you do not, this void will forever be your tomb, and the legacy that you see in this circle around you will permanently be yours. Succeed or fail, make our choice."

The young shinobi then returned to his spot in the circle as Itachi was left with an impossible question that not even he knew the answer too; who is the real Itachi?

* * *

Today was the day that the Team would launch an assault on Wrath. It was decided that Zatanna and Artemis would be left behind to watch over Carson while the others left with James to sneak into the abandoned Argus facility to attack Wrath. They needed James' clearance to get into the secret entrance which is why he was coming along. Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Miss Martian were all slated for the mission that was led by Aqualad. Artemis, at first, was adamantly against the idea of being left behind on guard duty. But that was until they told her the real reason; in case the failed and needed cavalry to arrive.

"The League is already on their way to Arkham to keep the facility secure so they won't be able to back us up should trouble arise. You will be our only hope. If we fail, you and Zatanna need to try and summon Itachi and Superman back from that genjutsu world." Aqualad explained.

"But I don't understand. Why not all of us just do it to begin with before going to confront Wrath? Why is it a last ditch effort?" Artemis asked.

"Because we still do not know enough about that world to be trifling with it on just a hunch and a whim. It's dangerous and we were lucky nothing went wrong the first time that we tried. Besides, you and Carson are the closest to Itachi. If anyone will be able to reach him in that world, it will be the two of you." The Atlantean explained.

Artemis got on board with the plan after hearing that. She, Zatanna, and Carson were all there to give their final goodbyes as the others were about to board M'gann's bioship. They all wished each other luck and gave each other hugs for support. The only two that were off to themselves were Carson and James who were having their own heart to heart conversation.

"Carson, look. I know what I did was evil and wrong but-" James was cut off by Carson, "But nothing. There is no excuse for what you did to him. You treated him the same way mom treated you back when we were kids. I hated it back then just like how I hate it now."

"…I'm sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe." James explained as he was starting to let his emotions show. Carson saw this and softened her voice, "I know you had good intention because you are a good person, James. But this is my life to risk. I get to choose who I love and in what way and that choice has already been made. I love Itachi. I will never see you as more than my brother. I know how complicated it's been since E-Day, but that is the simplest and straightforward thing that I know for sure."

"I know. I feel so bad for all of the grief that I have caused. I just want to make it right again and be someone you can be proud of." James whispered.

"You always have been someone I've been proud of. After all, you're my brother. You need let go of this prejudice and hatred in your heart for metahumans. It'll only lead to more pain for both of us." Carson said before pulling her brother into a hug.

James embraced his sister back as they shared their first touching moment since Wrath tore them apart on E-Day. They pulled apart after a while as James got ready to depart. Carson made sure to call out to her brother, "You better not die. If you really want to make up for what you did, you will live through this and spend your life making it up to the family of all of the people who died that day. That's how you truly show how sorry you are. I'll always love you, brother. So please, come back to me."

James nodded at his sister before getting on the bioship. It took off towards Wrath's hideout so that the heroes could finally end this madness. Artemis and Zatanna both went up to Carson as the three of them watched the ship fade into the distance. They could only hope that destiny was on their side.

"I'm glad you were able to patch things up with your brother. I don't like him much for what he did to my friend, but I know Itachi never would have held it against him, so why should I? Plus, it gives me hope that one day I'll be able to reconcile with my own family one day." Artemis said.

"It's still a work in progress, but I'm sure me and James will get there eventually. I just hope that after this nightmare with Wrath we will be able to move on from this." Carson sadly said.

"I'm sure you will. It'll just take time and a good group of friend to help out from time to time. And good thing for you that you have both." Zatanna responded.

"So what do we do now?" Carson asked. They all looked at each other before Artemis spoke next, "We wait. That's about all we can do. We can't even check in on Billy now that he's back with his foster family for the rest of his recovery. They were worried sick about him and were glad to finally have him home again. But you should have heard the tongue lashing he got from his uncle. Just brutal." Artemis joked as the three of them laughed.

"Oh I can imagine it'll be worse for Itachi once we finally get him back home." Zatanna joked. The other girls completely agreed with that statement.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely gonna get a piece of my mind." Artemis threatened.

"Me too. That dork I going to learn to stop leaving his friends behind one day. I just know for sure that I miss him like crazy. I hope he isn't suffering too much in that world he's in." Carson pondered.

"We all miss him. He won't be in that world for long, I promise." Zatanna said as they all went to the living area to wait. It was all up to destiny now.

* * *

The Justice League was currently on their way to Arkham to secure the facility in preparation for Wrath's arrival. The member's on deck included Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Aquaman, Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Green Arrow. The goal was to keep all the occupants detained so that Wrath couldn't get to them. They may be criminals, but they don't deserve to die. Plus, the entire world has seen how Wrath likes to kill people. He enjoys the brutality.

When the Javelin arrived to the facility, Manhunter immediately felt like something was off. He voiced that there was a major sense of panic throughout the facility, but Batman shot that down. He explained that this was a maximum security psychiatric ward for the worse of the worse of the criminally insane. Manhunter still felt like something was off despite the explanation.

"When we get inside, don't take what anyone says to heart. We aren't on many people's favorite person's list in here." Batman warned.

"Don't you mean _you_ aren't on anyone's favorite person's list? You're the one who put all of these creeps away. All my villains go to Blackgate. This is on you, buddy." Green Arrow joked. Batman was in no mood for jokes though.

"This is serious. If we fail here, everyone in this asylum will die, including us. We don't have our big guns in Superman and Captain Marvel. Wonder Woman and Aquaman will have to lead the charge should the Team fail and Wrath makes it here." Batman said seriously.

"Why are we letting children fight a madman like Wrath? He could kill them." Wonder Woman asked.

"Because Wrath hasn't showed any interest in killing them before. He wants us dead, not them. Wrath has had multiple opportunities, but has for one reason or another always chosen to spare them. It is a hypothesis that he will spare them again should he win against them. The hope is that they can slow him down enough for us to be ready to finish him. Or at least, that is what we theorized." Red Tornado answered.

"That's one hell of a risk to be taking with their lives." Green Lantern commented.

"We are that desperate. Aqualad is a good leader and has their safety at the forefront at all times. I have faith in them. They are no longer just sidekicks. They are heroes now." Aquaman responded as the plane landed.

"Here we go." Canary said as they stepped out. The Leaguers knew that this would be hard, but it shouldn't be impossible. They waited for the gate watch to let them in but no one ever came. Batman found that odd since there is always supposed to be someone standing watch at the gate. He had Green Lantern scan the area with his ring for any signs of any foul play.

"It seems like whoever was on watch was knocked to the ground and dragged away based on these drag marks on the ground. Looks like Manhunter wasn't as paranoid as you thought, Batman." Stewart commented.

"Be on your guard." Batman responded as he pushed the gate open. The heroes walked inside of the asylum to see just what was going on. And they found out by the sight of seeing a guard being hung by bed sheets on the second floor. Batman threw a batarang at the sheets to release the guard as Wonder Woman flew up to knock out the inmates responsible. Green Lantern used his ring to bring the guard back to them safely so that they could ask what was going on. The entire asylum was marred in chaos as inmates were running wild and overrunning the guards.

"What happened?" Batman demanded. Guard was busy trying to catch his breath from almost being hung to death, "I-inmates got released. They…they overran us. I don't know how they got out. One second everything was normal, the next all the gates were opened. We couldn't even call for help. I-I think we were hacked from the outside."

"Has anyone escaped?" Flash asked.

"I don't know. We've just been trying to survive. You have to help-" The guard was interrupted when a knife was thrown at him. The man screamed as he thought he was about to be killed. Luckily for him, Flash used his super-speed to catch the knife. The person responsible for it being thrown was Victor Zsasz.

"Catch me if you can -" He was knocked out by Wonder Woman as she kneed him in his stomach and threw him against the wall. She put him in a cell and closed the doors, "You've been caught."

"Everyone split up. We need to secure this facility now! If Wrath gets here and this place is still like this, everyone dies! Move out!" Batman ordered as he grappled away. They saw him kick one prisoner through a window and ram another's head against the wall before moving into action themselves. The mission was off to a horrible start and the Leaguers hoped that the Team was having better luck then they were.

* * *

Wrath had just finished getting his gear on. He saw on the news how Arkham Asylum was currently facing a massive mutiny. Somehow, the inmates had escaped their cells and were running amok inside of the facility. Wrath had a pretty good idea how the riot started.

' _Damn you, Cheshire. Because of you and your little organization, now my job just got a lot harder. Now these psychopaths are killing the guards and are about to be a threat to innocent people. This is why the ways of the old world have to die. And the League is already there to try and defuse the situation, thus making my job twice as hard. This is definitely a ploy to try and win back favor with the world's people after I embarrassed them on E-Day. I didn't plan on fighting them today, but I can still make this work. I guess losing Superman and Crow wasn't enough to break them. I'll just decapitate Wonder Woman in front of them then. Nothing breaks people faster than watching women they love die gruesomely.'_ Wrath dangerously thought.

He was getting ready to walk out when a sensor on the monitor activated. He knew that it could only mean one thing.

"Someone's in the training facility?! But how did they get this far deep inside without me knowing? Damn it all!" Wrath said as he sped towards the facility to confront whoever had invaded his home.

Inside of the training facility, the members of the Team were currently sprinting towards the entry to the next room. They wanted to get inside the control room because that was where Wrath frequented the most according to video feed acquired by Amanda Waller. Her intel on the underwater entrance, plus Kaldur's knowledge of the sea led to a successful infiltration that went off without a hitch. But getting in was the easy part, now they had to find a way to do what not even Itachi could; defeat Wrath.

"This way! It leads to the elevator that can take us right to the O-4 level, right where Wrath is!" James shouted as they almost made it to the entrance. But right before any of them could reach it a wall of Hedoro blocked the entrance and halted their charge. The entire training facility then illuminated as all of the lights were turned on. They all knew what that meant.

"Looks like Wrath knows we are in here! Everyone, get ready! Kid Flash, take James and get him to safety. Miss Martian, phase through and get the other side of that door open. Just because Wrath knows we're here does not mean we have to stay here like sitting ducks. Superboy, Robin, you're with me." Kaldur ordered.

As the leader Kaldur wanted to keep every member that was on this mission safe. Kid Flash did what he was ordered and took James away to hide him from the battle that was about to ensue. The last thing any of them wanted was to be too busy watching over him as an opponent as dangerous as Wrath was out there. Miss Martian used her powers to become intangible and was about to phase through it, but she stopped when something in the atmosphere started to change. It got really hot all of a sudden and she felt that the source of the heat was coming from the other side of the door.

She realized what was happening and shouted to warn her teammates, "Take cover!"

The door was blown open as Miss Martian was caught in the blast. Superboy, Aqualad, and Robin all looked as smoke emerged from where the fire blast occurred and in that smoke they all saw the eyes of the Sharingan piercing through. Wrath emerged from the smoke with a dark look on his face as he stared at the young heroes.

Superboy glared back at him after seeing his girlfriend be caught in that blast, "You are going to so pay for that!"

"You break into my home and now you threaten me. Not off to a good start today. What do you want?" Wrath asked with a look of indifference on his face.

"We want to bring you to justice for your crimes. You accuse us of breaking into your home, but you blew a freaking hole into mine! What, did you think we'd just let that go?!" Robin retorted.

"I have no desire to kill any of you. It's why the Martian girl still breaths. I only want to make this world a better place. Now go home. I have some psychopaths to kill." Wrath said as he dismissed them.

Wrath turned his back on them to block a punch by an invisible Miss Martian. She revealed herself as she struggled to get Wrath to release his grip on him, "You belong in that facility with the psychopaths. You murdered thousands of people on E-Day and back on the Cathedral Catastrophe. And worst of all, you murdered our friend!"

"Foolish girl, you know nothing at all." Wrath said as he threw her towards her teammates. Before she could make impact with any of them, Kid Flash ran in to safely catch her. Wrath noted how Artemis and Zatanna were not among the young heroes, "What, I'm not good enough for the whole team? Or did Artemis and Zatanna become too frightened after our last personal encounter?"

"We don't need the whole Team to kick your sorry butt!" Robin said as he threw some explosive batarangs at Wrath. A wall of Hedoro sprouted from the ground to protect Wrath from the blast. When the blast subsided, the wall dropped down and revealed Wrath who was unscathed.

"If a fight is what you came here looking for, then a fight is what you will get. Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" Wrath weaved hand signs while he was behind the Hedoro shield as he aimed to end this fight quickly.

Superboy stepped forward and used his body as a shield to block the attack from hitting any of his teammates. Once the blast made impact with the Kryptonian clone, the other heroes used that as an opportunity to counterattack. Kid Flash sprinted forward to try and blitz Wrath with a flurry of attacks. Wrath easily dodged the attacks thanks to his Sharingan and caught Kid Flash with a roundhouse kick to the sternum. Wally was keeled over in pain from getting the wind kicked out of his chest. Wrath picked him and threw the speedster towards the ceiling here spikes of Hedoro were waiting to impale Wally.

Conner recovered from the fire blast and leapt up to catch his friend. Conner was able to reach him into before he was impaled, but Wrath knew this would happen. That's why he planted a paper bomb on Wally's back. Conner saw this and tore the bomb away from Wally and threw the speedster to safety as the bomb went off. Conner was sent through a wall as a result of the explosion. Aqualad was able to catch Wally before he hit the ground hard.

"Kid Flash, are you alright?" The Atlantean asked. Wally put a thumb up at to show that he was okay as he was still trying to catch his wind, "That guy…hits hard."

"You can't rush in like that. Wrath is like Itachi in terms of visual prowess so he can still read your movements. We can only do this together," Aqualad sat Wally down on his feet as he joined up with Robin and Miss Martian. He knew he needed to think of a plan fast, **"Remember whenever we used to train with Itachi?"**

" **Yeah, he used to kick me in the chest just like Wrath did."** Wally mentally commented.

" **Focus, Itachi used to always say that the only way to defeat the Sharingan's visual prowess is with an attack that the user can't react to fast enough."** Aqualad said.

" **Yeah, but the problem with that is this jerk can use his Susanoo to block any attack his body isn't fast enough to counter. So what do we do about something that not even Itachi could take out?"** Robin skeptically asked.

" **Itachi used to say that the only way to get to a Susanoo user is by attack him at the base of the Susanoo. In other words, we have to focus on his feet."** M'gann added.

" **But what about is he uses its full body and crushes us like how he did with Green Lantern?"** Wally asked.

" **He can't use it in a place like this. Something of that size would collapse the entire facility. He wouldn't want to risk destroying this place just for us. If he does use the Susanoo, it'll definitely be its half-body state."** Robin concluded.

" **Good, and when we do get him out of that Susanoo, Miss Martian will incapacitate him with a psychic blast. He can't block that. Now, we just need something strong enough to initiate this plan."** Aqualad said.

" **Well, it's a good thing you guys got me then."** They all looked up to see Superboy launch himself at Wrath a torpedo that was shot out of a submarine. Wrath flipped away to avoid the devastating attack. The Uchiha was met by Aqualad who had unleashed his hyrdokinesis to form water blades and attack the Uchiha clone. After a few minutes of blocking and parrying, Wrath summoned his Shinigami Scythe to destroy the hydro-weapons. Kid Flash sprinted into action and knocked Wrath back a few feet as Robin launched some batarangs at Wrath.

Wrath leapt into the air to block the attacks but was met by a flying Miss Martian who was ready to attack. Before they collided though, a giant spike of Hedoro sprouted from a nearby wall to block their paths. Wrath used the distraction to quickly maneuver himself behind M'gann and kick her right out of the sky as she fell to the ground hard.

' _It's a good thing I had this entire facility incased with my Hedoro for situations like this. I can now use it to attack or defend at pretty much any angle I need. Now, it's my turn. Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!'_ Wrath thought as he launched the volley of fireballs.

Conner leapt towards his teammates and tried to use his body as a shield to block the attacks. Wrath predicted that this would happen and laced his jutsu with Katamarimasu armored shuriken that cut into Superboy and left him stunned.

"Combination Beta!" Aqualad commanded as he, Robin and Kid Flash ran at Wrath for a frontal attack while Miss Martian stayed behind. Wrath launched a projectile at them, but the trio of heroes all managed to evade the attack.

"Miss Martian, watch out!" M'gann looked up at the four of them when Wally shouted just in time to see Wrath throw his spear at her. She phased through the attack before retreating to the ground to wait for her moment.

' _Good, now all I need to do is deal with them.'_ Wrath charged right back at them in what was going to be a three on one fight.

Robin used his staff to lunge himself forward with a soaring kick. Wrath ducked the attack and made a swipe for Aqualad with his scythe. The Atlantean used his hydro powers to form a shield to block the attack. It did its job as Wrath bounced off of it in a heap thanks to the recoil. Kid Flash acted fast and started sprinting in a circle around Wrath so fast that a cyclone was forming. Soon Wrath found that it was getting harder and harder to breath.

' _They're trying to cut off my oxygen. Nice try, but it won't work. Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!'_ Wrath shot a fireball at Wally to try and halt his running pattern, but it had no affect on the speedster. Aqualad was protecting his friend by using his hyrdokinesis to shield Kid Flash from the flames so that he could keep running. Thinking fast, Wrath leapt high into the air to try to escape the cyclone. But that didn't work either because waiting for him towards the top of the cyclone were proximity batarangs that Robin threw in. They were set to go off the instant someone got too close to them and sent Wrath right back to the ground. The trio's combination was executed successfully and unless he acted quickly, Wrath would finally be subdued…or so they thought.

' _Playtime is over. Susanoo!'_ Wrath conjured his Susanoo in its humanoid, half-body state to neutralize the attack. The beast roared ferociously and blew Wally away. When the cyclone subsided, all of the explosive batarangs inside of it fell right on top of Wrath's Susanoo and bombarded it with explosions. Robin used that distraction as an opportunity to grapple Wally to safety. As the acrobat zipped upwards the cold dark eyes of Wrath's Susanoo followed him. It then swatted him into a wall like he was a fly and completely rendered him unconscious thanks to the broken ribs he suffered coupled with the impact of the blow.

The Uchiha quickly turned his attention towards Aqualad. The leader of the Team soon found himself on the wrong end of a hammerfist by Wrath's Susanoo. He had to act quickly and form another hydroshield to protect himself. The result of the clash saw Aqualad pushed several feet into the ground as his shield barely hung on. Wrath raised a brow at this.

"That's an impressive shield you have there. Let's see how it does against my Katamarimasu." Wrath then hardened his Susanoo's hand and delivered a now armored hammerfist to Kaldur. This time, the shield did not hold up and Kaldur was pummeled into the ground. If it wasn't for Kaldur's Atlantean anatomy, he would have been killed from the attack.

"And then there were three." Wrath turned his attention towards Kid Flash as the speedster seemed to be talking to himself. Wrath just chucked that up to the pressure getting to him and decided to put the hero out of his misery. His Susanoo started to reach for Wally as the speedster charge right back at him. Just before his Susanoo could get to him, Kid Flash leapt as high as he could into the air.

"Do it now!" Wally shouted. Wrath looked at him in confusion. Then out of nowhere, Wrath found himself taking a pointblank, full-powered punch from Superboy who emerged from right under him. The attack was so strong that it sent Wrath out of his Susanoo and into the open air with Wally. Wrath had realized that he had been had.

' _Damn it! That was what the cyclone was for. It was never to attack me. It was to block my field of vision on Superboy and keep my focus on just the other three. I got careless.'_ Superboy smirked as the plan went off without a hitch and now there was only one part left to do, "M'gann, hit him now!"

Wrath looked on as Miss Martian rose up from the ground and shot a psychic blast at her target. Wrath knew that if the attack hit him he would be done for, and he refused to let that happen.

"You're done for Wrath!" Miss Martian shouted as she fired her shot.

"This is not the end of me!" Wrath declared. Wally laughed at the clone, "You're done for, freak! This is for our friend!"

Wally waited for Wrath to be blasted out of the air, but to his and Superboy's surprise, it was Wally who got hit with the psychic blast. Wally was sent hurdling to the ground screaming before being rendered unconscious. Miss Martian jumped up in celebration from thinking that she had finally taken out Wrath.

"We did it! We won! Conner, it's finally over. We did it!" M'gann shouted. Conner's face became distressed when Wrath landed behind his girlfriend looking like a demon thanks to his Mangekyo Sharingan, "Oh, you did it alright."

"M'gann, behind you!" It was too late for her because Wrath delivered a Katamarimasu armored punch to her that knocked her out cold. Conner shouted in rage as he charged at Wrath, "You'll pay for that!"

"No, you will." Wrath's Susanoo started moving again just as Conner started running and crushed the Kryptonian right before he could reach the Uchiha. Wrath smiled at the broken heap Conner was in, "You all never stood a chance. I figured that you would try to attack me with a multilayered attack so I set a trap of my own. Back when your teammates first charged at me, I threw a spear at them. My target was never them though, it was always the Martian."

Conner had an idea of where Wrath was going with this, "Don't tell me-"

"That's correct. That spear was just a tactic I used to get the Martian to look into my eyes so I could place her under a genjutsu. The whole time we were fighting, she thought that Kid Flash was me and I was him. I made sure to start it right when she first went underground so that she wouldn't even notice it. Now Kid Flash over there will have a pretty bad headache when he wakes up. I have to admit that it was a good combination. I could feel Itachi's influence all over it. But like Itachi, it came crashing down. Now all I have to do is take you out and then I can do what I originally intended on and take out those superpowered psychopaths in Arkham. Thanks for the warm up though. I'm definitely in more of a mood to kill the Justice League because of it." Wrath stoically said as he conjured his Shinigami Scythe so that he could deliver the knockout blow.

"When I'm done killing all of them, I'll be back. Then we can have a long talk about what your roles will be in my new world. And trust me when I say that I have big plans for all of you." Wrath said before attacking.

Conner put a shield on at the last moment and used his heat vision to halt Wrath's attack. He then flew at the clone tackled him into a wall. Conner didn't let up after that and drug him across for several feet before throwing the Uchiha back to the ground. Wrath struggled to move as Superboy started flying down towards him, but was eventually able to back flip away just before Conner could crush him.

Wrath thought fast and had his Susanoo attack Superboy. Thanks to his ability to control Hedoro, he was able to make his Susanoo move without being near it. Superboy turned and saw the behemoth heading his way.

"I've had enough of that ugly monster." Superboy used his heat vision to melt the Susanoo's head off. It roared in pain as Superboy increase the power output and completely incinerated it. He smiled at his handiwork, "Good riddance."

"Behind you," Wrath had encased both of his arms in Katamarimasu and clotheslined Superboy in the chest. The attack took the wind out of Conner. Before Conner could recover, Wrath hit him with a pointblank Fireball Jutsu to keep him on his knees. When the attack subsided, Wrath conjured another scythe to try and cut down Conner with. Superboy felt himself getting angrier and angrier to the point where he pushed past the pain and exhaustion to explode faster than Wrath could react and grab the Uchiha by the throat.

Wrath could feel his throat slowly being crushed by the brute strength of Superboy. Conner's eyes began to exude smoking as they lit up into a dark red color just like his heat vision. Wrath knew that he'd have holes in his head if he didn't do something quickly.

"The reports say that you can heal from almost any wound. I wonder if you're brain can heal from being reduced to smoldering hot liquid." Superboy threatened as he got ready to unleash his rage.

Wrath had no idea how Conner could do any of this since all of the reports on him said that he couldn't use any of Superman's most dangerous powers. He felt his vision begin to fade and knew now was the time to act, _'If you want a real fight, I'll give you one!'_

Wrath resorted to using the same tactic he used in order to defeat Itachi; a surprise attack from below. Conner felt the ground underneath him rumble and flew upwards to avoid it. The ground cracked open as a giant black hand emerged to try and grab Superboy. Wrath leapt up to attack Superboy from behind, but the Kryptonian countered by quickly turning in the air to catch the attack. He twirled Wrath several times before throwing him towards the ceiling.

"Game over!" Wrath said as he landed on the ceiling and used his chakra control to rebound like a speeding missile towards Superboy. Conner would have done the same thing if it weren't for the fact that he had been impaled from behind. Conner looked to see an armored blade emerge from the Susanoo hand in the ground. It pierced him near his sternum and had Conner pinned down on it. Conner coughed up blood as the large blade dug deeper into his body. Wrath made things worse when he landed a double drop kick on Conner that pushed him further down on the blade. Wrath landed on the ground and saw the patch Conner put on before he suddenly got twice as powerful. He removed the patch and dissolved his Susanoo so that Conner landed with a painful thud on the ground.

"You're done. Stay down. I made sure to avoid all of your major organs, but I can make the pain go up a lot higher if need be." Wrath warned. Every member of the Team was defeated. They had failed. But there was still a chance. James was hidden during the entire fight and saw them all go down. So he made his final contribution to try and stop the monster he created. He got on his radio and called for Artemis and Zatanna.

"Artemis…Zatanna, this is James. Wrath beat them. You're our last hope. Bring Itachi back now." James whispered in desperation.

"Copy that. Just try to hang on a little while longer." Artemis responded.

James was about to respond until a Hedoro spear pierced the wall behind him. It made a small cut on his cheek because of how close it was to his face. It didn't just reveal how much of a close call he just had. It revealed something even more deadly; Wrath knew he was there and it was only a matter of time before he was face to face with the monster again.

"James, I know you're there. Why don't you join in on all of the fun? I insist." James hoped for the life of him that Artemis and Zatanna moved fast because he wanted no parts of Wrath and after what happened the last time they were in a room together.

' _Please, hurry.'_ James thought as he felt his heartbeat get faster from fear.

* * *

Itachi stood in the middle of a circle with the version of himself from throughout his entire life. They stood there while waiting for Itachi to answer the question posed to him; which of them were the real Itachi. He thought long and hard on that question. Every time he thought he had a resolute answer, a new aspect would show itself and make Itachi rethink his position again. In the end, Itachi had to be honest with himself for the first time in a very long time.

"I…I think I figured out the answer. I have spent my entire life being whatever others needed me to be. Even if I thought it was just a mask for me to myself. So to meet all of you…all of me…and decide which of you is the real me is impossible. There is no one side to Itachi Uchiha. He can be whatever the world needs him to be and you all represent that." Itachi started as he went through each and every one of them.

"My youngest side represents the loss of my innocence. I stopped being a child and became Itachi of the Hidden Leaf Village that day. My eight year old self represents my pain. I learned what death felt like. The rogue Itachi represents my resolve to do what is necessary. I casted away my selfish desires and did what I thought was best for my village. Even if it meant killing my clan. I can walk in that darkness for the sake of my home. My time in the Akatsuki represents the lies I told. I was lost to the darkness. My future was already decided and all I could do was wait for the inevitable. The Itachi that I was before my brother killed me was someone who was relieved that my hell had ended. I could finally see the light again. I knew that my brother could take care of himself and was finally strong. But I still worried about him and so I kept trying to manipulate him even in death. In the end, I was wrong. The reincarnated Itachi represented my last chance. I could finally tell my truth and tell my brother what mattered most; that I love him and nothing he could do would ever change that. He needed to hear that from me. The Crow represents the hero I always wanted to be. I've always hated killing but I had to do it because a world as dark as mine only responds to more darkness. But as the Crow, I didn't have to kill anymore. The mask could fight the darkness not only in the world, but in myself as well. Even Wrath is a part of me. At first, I thought he was the rage I kept hidden in my heart my entire life. He was the ugliest part of myself and everything I resented about me. But now I know what he really is. He is the hurt I felt from willingly walking through hell for my entire life. He is what life without love looks like. He is me and I am him. You are all a side of me that at one point or another I had to become in my journey in life. In being the Crow, in trying to lock away my past I had almost forgotten that. I'll never do that again to you all. You shouldn't be punished because I'm ashamed of how my life turned out. I won't let you disappear. It's time we all healed." Itachi said to the circle.

Everyone, including Wrath, smiled at Itachi. The youngest version of him ran up to him in excitement, "You answered correctly."

A final version of Itachi appeared in the circle. It was an adult version of him that had two children in his arms and a woman that looked eerily similar to Izumi next to him. Itachi had no idea what that represented since he never once looked like that. He looked happy.

"Who is that? And what are they doing here?" Itachi asked. The child Itachi shed a tear, "That's everything you're giving up by choosing to walk back into hell. A wife, a family, and peace. You give all of that up if you choose to take on this responsibility."

Itachi saw the alternate version of himself hug adult Izumi and cradle their children and almost caved in, but Itachi knew what he had to do. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and did what the world needed him to do, "Amaterasu."

Itachi unleashed his black flame upon them and burned them all alive. Not even the children were spared from Itachi's ire. There was no look of pain or anguish like how he had when he killed his parents. Nor was there a look of regret like when he knew that he broke his brother's heart. Itachi only felt the resolve to keep moving forward into hell.

They all then removed their right eyes and each handed them to Itachi. Once the last one was in his hand, they fused together in a bright light that Itachi put into his right eye. When the light dimmed, all of the other Itachi's were gone and Nagato had finally returned with Superman in tow. The man of steel couldn't believe his eyes.

"Itachi, you're alive?!" Itachi nodded at him as Nagato smiled in content, "Yes, and it seems that you've finally healed from all of your wounds and found your true self. And you seem to have a new eye."

Superman noticed what Nagato said and saw that Itachi's right eye indeed was different from what he remembered it being. It was now purple with thin black circles. There were three tomoe on each of its two innermost circles. In short, Itachi had unlocked the Rinnegan.

"You now have the Rinnegan, Itachi. With it, you can finally be the hero that the Sage of Six Paths always envisioned you being." Itachi nodded with a look of determination as the air about him changed. He had one singular goal that he wanted to accomplish.

"Great, but we still need to get out of here somehow. Wrath and the Masked Stranger are still out there to unleash their rage onto the world. What do we do now?" Superman asked.

"Wrath was never the rage of the Uchiha…I am. Now, it's time for me to wake up and end this nightmare for good." Itachi declared.

Superman felt chills go down his spine from the sheer will that Itachi was exuding. Just as Itachi finished his sentence a vortex similar to earlier appeared in the sky. Only this time, two people were freefalling through the portal. Itachi could point them out from a mile away.

"Artemis and Carson. It's time for us to go." Itachi wasted no time as he sped towards the girls. It caught Superman by surprise as the hero flew after him.

"It's him! And Superman too! Zatanna, we found them!" Artemis shouted.

"Itachi! Please come with us!" Carson begged. She got her wish as both Itachi and Superman flew right towards them. Itachi had to admit that it felt good to hear their voices again and Clark was glad to finally be going home after having seen his home planet be blown up several times thanks to this genjutsu world. Superman took hold of Artemis while Itachi grabbed on to Carson as the four of them flew to the portal that was slowly closing.

"I don't know if we can make it!" Artemis shouted. Itachi refused to be stopped now. He pushed even further. And by the skin of their teeth, all four of them made it through. The portal closed and Superman, Artemis, and Carson all fell down in exhaustion. They were only in that world for a few seconds and felt like they were about to break. They could only imagine what Superman and Itachi felt from being there for practically a whole month.

Zatanna was breathing heavy from exhaustion, but was also filled with joy. The Earth had two of its greatest heroes back. Artemis wasted no time in popping back up to scold Itachi, but stopped halfway there when she felt how cold the air was around him. It felt like Hell had frozen over.

Itachi turned towards her and gave her scariest look she had ever seen. She wasn't the only one scared. Zatanna and Carson both felt it too. Superman was the only one immune to the dark vibe the others got. The girls all felt like they could barely breath and subconsciously they all began to tremble. Itachi slowly turned toward them and had only three words for them. It was just the way he said them that revealed to girls that the Itachi they brought back is not the Itachi that they first lost. Especially with the now purple right eye he now was sporting.

"Where…is…Wrath?"

* * *

Finally! This chapter is done! Yeah, it took an extremely long while to complete and for that I apologize. I just struggled to map out how I wanted Itachi's journey of discovery to go and the fight choreography for the chapter. I hope you all like it. I also hope giving Itachi the Rinnegan doesn't bother too many people, but for the overarching story, it will factor into how the final act plays out so I had to give it to him eventually. Hopefully, you all think the way he got it is satisfactory. But next chapter, man oh man it's gonna be good. I'm not going to spoil anything for you all, but Wrath has something coming his way that I'm pretty sure he wants no part of. If you want a hint, think Gohan's Awakening against Cell in DBZ. Thanks again for all of the love and support the last chapter got. I read all of the reviews and PMs and try to respond to them all so I appreciate every bit of feedback I get; both positive and negative. You are all amazing. It only makes me a better writer which is good for everyone. Don't forget to favorite, follow, review, or PM if you haven't already. I'm pretty open towards everything so don't be shy. Hopefully, this next chapter comes out faster than this one did, lol. Till next time guys and gals!

PS, Happy Holidays to everyone! And I saw Aquaman and boy did I love that movie. Is it perfect, no. Is it a little long, yes. But it is a darn good movie and a pretty good time. It is my second favorite DCEU franchise film even above Wonder Woman. I had to rewatch Man of Steel just to remind myself how great that film is to me. That's how much I enjoyed Aquaman. Good job DC, now when I finally go to film school to become a director make sure you hook me up with a good comic book character to make a great movie out of, lol. Till next time everyone!


	35. Ruthless

**adam199118 - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Anime hotty lover.18 – I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! It was fun writing him back too. I hope you had a good holiday!**

 **Trollzor69 – I thought it was time to even the odds a bit.**

 **ActionTReaction – Just gotta give me time. I make sure that the story explains itself, though I do make mistakes here and there. I'm glad you liked the chapter though.**

 **Anon23 – hey, if someone burned my 22 million dollars, I'd be pissed too. Everyone can't be billionaires unfortunately, lol.**

 **Anon23 – Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I definitely wouldn't categorize 7 feet tall and 200 pounds as being a stick. Especially since Itachi is from a world where being 5'10 is considered tall.**

 **Mr. Shiki – nope, just gotta have patience and let the story tell itself out. But thanks for the constructive criticism.**

 **Brave2000 – It most definitely got real in this fight.**

 **Mathew5641 – Yup, Itachi definitely has limitations on how he can use his eyes, but man it sure was awesome writing the action scenes out. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Guest – Itachi and PowerGirl would work well together, to an extent. Both come from different worlds and different upbringings so it definitely would take some adjustments. There was no point in making them watch him torture someone. They had already known at that point that Itachi was dangerous. And Itachi is such a multi-dimensional character that I think he goes well with most material/genres. Great questions.**

 **TianYi – Sometimes, someone's safety is more important than their feelings.**

 **Kh fan – sadly Itachi doesn't use Chidori, but Wrath still gets to face the pain in different ways. And Carson and Itachi finally get to take a good next step.**

 **Fax15 – umm, thanks?**

 **Huongdaoroma – trust me, I bet you aren't the only one. Just wait to you get to Wrath's saga.**

 **Devingo1999 – I have purposely avoided watching Young Justice season three so that it wouldn't affect how this story progressed. If you all want it enough, there will be a sequel that goes into season 2 and one into season 3 if you all want that too. I just want the story to stay consistent is all. And I'm glad you liked last chapter. Hopefully you'll like this one too.**

 **Gabe – you ain't seen nothing yet man, this chapter is just as good.**

 **Guest – Just read this chapter and all of your Nagato questions will be answered.**

 **Scpsecurecontain123 – done and done.**

* * *

"Itachi, you're back!" Artemis shouted as she started to run towards her friend. She stopped when she saw the cold look in his eyes. That and the fact that Itachi's right eye was now an ominous shade of purple. Superman noticed the cold air around Itachi and tried to rein him back down to Earth.

"Itachi, we're back. We're not in that hell world anymore. You're scaring your friends." Superman warned, but Itachi completely ignored him.

"I don't sense anyone else here in the Cave. I assume that they're all gone. Where did they go?" Itachi asked.

"I see you're as sentimental as always. We literally just got you back from that genjutsu world and the first thing you can think of doing is going after the guy who put you in there." Artemis argued.

Itachi looked away from her and saw Carson off at a distance. She hadn't said much since Itachi and Superman crossed back into their world. Itachi sensed what was ailing her and tried to put her mind at ease, "I don't blame you for what happened with Wrath. You couldn't have known what he had planned."

Carson hadn't expected those words. It was the first time since coming back that Itachi sounded like the old Itachi. Carson didn't know how to respond to that. All she could do was start crying as everything that had happened from the past month all came crashing down on her. Artemis went to her friend to comfort her as she understood what she was going through. A month ago, someone they both loved was killed in front of them and by some miracle he had come back from the dead.

"The others went to Wrath's hideout to bring him down, or at least hold him off until the rest of the Justice League can finally secure Arkham Asylum since it is his next target. But there was a prison riot and now all of the inmates are running loose. The Leaguers are trying as best as they can to contain the situation but there are already reports of inmates escaping. And to make things worse, we haven't heard from our friends since James told us that Wrath had beaten all of them." Zatanna informed him.

"I see. Superman, can you please go to Arkham to help the other Leaguers? I will take care of Wrath and save the others." Itachi requested.

"I'll go, but a word of advice from one hero to another; you're friends already said goodbye and mourned you once. Please don't make them do it again." Superman said. Itachi gave him a cold look as he responded, "I'm no hero. I only keep moving forward, being whatever the world needs me to be. And I have no intention of dying."

Superman could tell the being in that genjutsu world had changed Itachi. He couldn't find a word to describe how, but the hero knew that Itachi wasn't like how he was before. All he could hope for is that Itachi's kind heart stayed pact through the trauma, "I see. We'll I'll head off to Arkham. Then we can all stop Wrath together."

"Superman! Before you leave, you have to know something." Zatanna called out.

"I'm listening." He responded.

"It's about Billy. He's alive! He's with his foster family recovering. You didn't fail him." She revealed. This news almost made Clark shed a tear of relief and joy. He knew that after the chaos was over that he would fly over to the young boy and visit him. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his broad shoulders, "Thank you. Hearing that means so much to me."

"Now go kick their butts!" She said as he flew off like a rocket ship. Zatanna was glad to be able to cheer Superman up. Now all she had to do was find a way to make Itachi's pain go away too. The problem is that Itachi seems to be holding on to that pain for dear life. Itachi started walking away from the girls and went towards the Cave exit.

"Wrath has the others in an abandoned Argus facility that is serving as his hideout. It's on the outskirts of Gotham. This tracker will show you how to get there using the secret route the others took." Artemis said as she gave him the tracker.

"Thank you, but there will be no sneaking in. I want him to know it's me when I take him down. Plus, while his attention is on me you and Zatanna can sneak in and rescue the others." Itachi revealed.

"You're taking us with you?" Artemis asked while not believing what she had just heard. Zatanna and Carson were also shocked.

"Yes, we are a team, aren't we? Just promise that no matter what happens between Wrath and I that you won't interfere. This is a battle of the Uchiha." Itachi requested.

"What are you planning?" Zatanna asked as she and Artemis started following Itachi. He ignored them and turned towards Carson to give her a sad smile since he knew that leaving this soon after being brought back would hurt her, "We'll talk after this is all over."

"Sure thing. Just don't die again." Carson responded with a warm smile. Itachi nodded his head as Zatanna and Artemis him at the outside exit. Artemis told her friend not to worry because this time Itachi will have his friends as backup.

Itachi flared his chakra and summoned his perfect Susanoo. Zatanna watched in awe because she had never seen this version of his Susanoo before. It towered over most mountains. Artemis and Carson smiled because that was probably their first reactions to seeing it too. Itachi told Zatanna and Artemis to hold on tightly as he rocketed away for his final fight with his clone Wrath. Carson only hoped that the nightmare would finally end after the battle.

* * *

Wrath had James by the throat as the young heroes that he had incapacitated were all in unique prisons. Aqualad and Miss Martian were in a Hedoro cage that was currently on fire to prevent them from escaping. Wally and Robin were incased in Katamarimasu from the neck down to prevent them from even calling for backup. And finally, Superboy was completely submerged in Katamarimasu and it was predesigned to crush the hero if he even moved an inch while trapped in it. Only James was free and Wrath was taking care of that situation now.

"Who did you just radio for?" Wrath asked as he started choking James even harder.

"I-I'll…never…tell you!" James replied defiantly. Wrath gave him a stoic look as he released the former soldier. James gasped for air as he finally could feel oxygen reaching his brain again. Wrath used his power to trap James in a prison of Hedoro like the others, "I have someone who cares about me. It would hurt them if I died so I will do everything in my power in order to prevent that from happening. So tell me who you just radioed before someone you care about gets really sad about what is about to happen to you."

"Who could care about a murderer like you?! Do whatever you want you murderer. I'm not afraid to die so that you will finally be stopped." James replied in an act of conviction.

"Who said anything about killing you? I already told you that I need you for the new world that I plan on creating. No, I'm not going to kill you. I'll just hurt you and make you bleed…a lot." Wrath threatened.

"Big talk coming from a coward like you! Release us and we'll see who ends up bleeding a lot." Robin threatened.

"You should try to stop talking as much kid. I broke more than a few of your ribs from that last attack so I know you are in immense pain. You don't have to act tough. I've already won. The people of this world no longer trusts you heroes, you're all captured and unable to stop me, and Itachi is dead and unable to save you all. I take it the people that James called were Artemis and Zatanna since they were the only ones who were left behind. I don't know how an archer and some second rate magician is supposed to help you, but if they're in such a rush to get captured I have a cell waiting for them too." Wrath coldly said.

"That someone who cares about you, you didn't mean my sister, did you? She's in love with Itachi, not you. So leave her out of this mess. Haven't you hurt her enough? You tricked her into helping you kill the man she loved. Please, leave my sister be." James begged as he started losing hope.

"I wasn't referring to Carson. I never meant to hurt her or make her suffer. I know she loved Itachi, but for this new world to be born, he had to die. There was no other way around it. There are two people who I have my eyes on. One of them is the person I was referring to. She was the reason I blew up the Gotham Cathedral. I wanted to end her suffering at the hands of men who only sought to take advantage of weak, defenseless, little girls like her. That institution sat there and enabled monsters like the Dollmaker to abuse children like her. How could I sit back and let something so evil keep conspiring? How could any of you? What, just because I killed them all that makes me a monster? Darkness only responds to more darkness. Even Itachi knew that." Wrath said.

"Itachi never killed innocent people like how you did! Itachi-" Miss Martian was interrupted by Wrath's cold glare, "Itachi murdered our entire clan even though he knew not everyone was involved in the planned coup. He did the same thing that I did. He and I are no different from each other. So why do you hate me but you tolerate a murderer like him?"

That silenced the group. They had no idea how to respond. Wrath took note of that and began to leave so that he could take care of business at Arkham. Just as he was about to leave, Wally called out to him, "We care about him because he's our friend and we know he's not evil. You and him are different. You keep looking for enemies to fight, it doesn't matter how many you kill. It will never be enough for you. Itachi fights so that the day may come where he doesn't have to anymore. I'll admit that when I learned the truth about him I thought just like how you do and judged him harshly, but after being around him this entire time, he let me into his heart and let me be able to call him my friend. I mourned him just like how you mourned your family, just like how we all should have mourned that little girl's pain. He doesn't manipulate people's feelings of love and trust for his own gain like how you do! Itachi was, no, is a good man and our friend and you took that away from us, from the entire world. You think you're the hope of the world, well you're wrong! Itachi Uchiha is the hero we need and the one we choose! You're just a fake knockoff who's going to be brought to justice for your crimes! Mark my words! You haven't won yet!"

Wally words shocked everyone around him. None of them knew that Wally thought so highly of Itachi. Wrath glared at the speedster as his Mangekyo Sharingan flared. He started walking towards them as his Shinigami Scythe formed in his hands, "I've had a change of heart. Maybe I don't need you in my new world after all. Goodbye, speedster."

Just before he could strike Wally down, a giant explosion caused the roof to cave in as a gigantic, red sword got in the middle of Wrath and his intended target. Wrath stood in shock as the dust settled and revealed the one person he couldn't believe he was seeing. It was like seeing a ghost to Wrath. The person responsible for this response was none other than Itachi Uchiha.

They both stared at each other for what seemed like years. Though in reality, only mere seconds had passed. Neither of them spoke for the longest time as the blade of Itachi's perfect Susanoo dissipated right in front of them. Wrath smiled at his clone.

"You survived. Of course you did. Honestly, I'm not even surprised. So what brings you here to my home, Itachi? Obviously it's not revenge or else you would have made sure to pierce me with your new Totsuka Blade. I take it you got that one from the Pure Lands like how you got the first one. Don't tell me you're still on this justice crusade. As if you even know what that word means." Wrath taunted.

"Justice…no. I have no desire to see you in a prison. If I did, I would have sealed you with the Totsuka Blade like how you sealed me. That hell is too good for you. I want to be the one who kills you, not some genjutsu. Wrath, this 'home' will be your tomb just in the way that mother and father's home wound up being their tombs." Itachi promised.

That statement managed to break Wrath's taunting smile as rage starting to rise up inside of him. Itachi had to outward reaction to Wrath's change, he only cared about seeing his clone dead. Wrath steeled his face as the pinwheel in his Mangekyo Sharingan stated spinning. He noticed that the Hedoro that was holding his friends hostage started subsiding. He assumed that this is Wrath's doing.

"There will be no excuses this time. No tricks, no gimmicks, and no distractions. This time, Itachi, I will kill you with my bare hands. I even let your friends go as a sign of good faith. Not that you'll be able to rescue them considering your about to be slaughtered. Might as well let them have another front row seat to it. They're used to seeing you die by now." Wrath said.

Itachi ignored his taunting as he felt Artemis and Zatanna sneaking around to try and secure their friends from the area. Before making his big entrance, Itachi dropped the two of them off at the hidden entrance that James had told them about. That took Itachi using his Rinnegan to open an underwater pathway deep enough for them to reach it by using Almighty Push, which drained his Rinnegan's power. The plan was for Itachi to act as a distraction so that Zatanna and Artemis could rescue them. Then once they were all safe, they would join in and help Itachi apprehend Wrath so that he could face justice for his crimes. Too bad Itachi had different plans for them.

' _Please forgive me,'_ Itachi thought as he set his plan into motion. He stared at Wrath as the last of his friends were rounded up by Zatanna and Artemis. He flared is chakra as his true plan began to unfold, "Sorry Wrath, but this will be between you and I alone."

Just as the Team were all rescued and getting ready to join Itachi on the battle field. They were all happy to see their friend alive and couldn't wait to fight beside him again. But before they could do that, Conner caught word of what Itachi just said to Wrath and paused.

"Why did he say that he would fight them alone?" Conner questioned. Artemis looked at him incredulously and got ready to lash out at Itachi for saying this. Before she could though, Zatanna kicked her back into the others, much to everyone's surprise. They all looked on in shock as her emotionless state gazed upon them. Robin called out to her, "Zatanna, what are you doing?! We're supposed to be helping Itachi!"

"Did you forget the plan?!" Artemis shouted. Zatanna had no response. It was like her eyes had no soul in them. Conner recognized this look and so did M'gann. They both new that Zatanna was in a genjutsu, "Be careful. She's been put under a genjutsu. But when did Wrath get the chance to initiate it when she just got here?"

Artemis looked down in hurt when she realized who was really behind this, "This isn't Wrath's doing; it's Itachi's."

They all looked at her in surprise. Zatanna's emotionless face turned into a sad smile which pretty much confirmed Artemis's deduction, "I'm sorry…guys. But I have to do this alone."

"But we just got you back!" M'gann cried out sadly with tears in her eyes. Zatanna shook her head, "I…I couldn't bare it if any of you died because of me. I will live with what happened to Hal Jordan for the rest of my life. I won't lose you too. I'm sending you back to the Cave. It's the only place I know he can't get to you. Enough people have died because of me. It's time someone finally lived because of me. I failed at saving my friends, my home, and my family. Let me, for once, finally be able to save someone."

"But we choose to fight with you! We're a team and we're a family. Family doesn't abandon each other!" Artemis shouted with tears in her eyes. She was having flashbacks to when her sister left her all those years ago.

"I'm sorry, Artemis. Maybe next time." Zatanna said though they were clearly Itachi's words being spoken. Conner had had enough of these words and decided to move into action, "She can't stop all of us! Let's go!"

They tried to sprint past her but Itachi chose to take control of her for a reason. It was for her ability to cast powerful spells, "Laes eht terces ecnartne dna tropelet su lla kcab eht Evac!"

The Team found themselves being sucked into a portal that led back into the Cave against their will. Zatanna was released from the genjutsu and sucked into the portal first. Itachi planned it out that way so she wouldn't be able to undo it. She'd also be rendered unconscious until the fight between Itachi and Wrath ended. One by one, the other members of the Team were all sucked into the portal. Artemis was the last one left as she hung on by a thread. She saw Itachi staring at Wrath and shed a tear. She finally slipped and got sucked in. What hurt Artemis the most was the fact that her friend would be facing someone who was already strong enough to kill him once before. Now, she won't even be able to help him. She won't even be able to know whether or not Itachi lived or died. That was what hurt her the most.

' _Damn you, Itachi…'_ She thought as she got sucked in.

* * *

Wrath heard the portal sucked the hostages in right before it finally closed. He smiled and shook his head at Itachi, "I take it that portal was something you came up with. I guess your plans and theirs just didn't coincide with each other. Planning on taking me on alone again, Itachi? Did you not learn your lesson the last time?"

"Enough talking." Itachi said as he got ready to fight. Both his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan flared to match his intensity. Wrath took note of Itachi's new eye before getting ready to fight to the death, "Such a fine eye is wasted on an Uchiha peace seeker like you. I'll take it from your smoldering, dead corpse after I've killed you. It'll be of much more use to me in establishing my new world."

Itachi didn't even humor him with a response as he sprinted forward. Wrath matched him as he, too, burst into a sprint. Both of them were thinking the same thing as time seemed to slow down. Their future, the future of the entire world, and the future of the Uchiha Clan would all be determined by the outcome of this fight.

' _I…will not lose here!'_ Both thought as they charged ahead. Itachi knew he had to wait before he could use his full power because he needed to use his Rinnegan to get Artemis and Zatanna through the underwater entrance safely. That meant that, for now at least, he would have to start this fight in Wrath's most dangerous aspect; taijutsu. Itachi knew that based on how their last fight ended, that Wrath was far more superior at taijutsu than Itachi was. But like their last fight, Itachi hoped his superior visual prowess would help even the odds.

' _This fool is really going to charge at me in a straight up fist fight. Fine, I'll just pummel him to death.'_ Wrath thought as he hardened his fists with Katamarimasu. The two met in the middle of the battlefield.

Itachi swung first with an overhead right that Wrath blocked it with a kick and countered with a fast jab-cross-hook combination. Itachi threw a wide left handed back fist to try and hit Wrath, but his clone ducked it, used his free hand to grip Itachi's right shoulder to stay within striking range, and popped back up with two jabs to the body and a hook that connected with Itachi's jaw and knocked his head back as blood was drawn with the hit.

Itachi tried to recover by coming back with a 12 to 6 overhead elbow that was aimed at the crown of Wrath's skull. Wrath dodged it by weaving over towards Itachi's left since it was now exposed thanks to the missed elbow attack. Wrath got in three quick jabs before Itachi kneed him in the stomach. Itachi threw an overhead left hammerfist since Wrath was still kneeled over by the knee, but Wrath recovered just in time to block it before major damage was done.

Itachi moved fast and threw a right handed shovel uppercut that Wrath was only just able to dodge it. Itachi knew that would be the case and followed up with a left backfist but that was also blocked by Wrath as his clone shielded his face with both arms. Itachi saw this as his opportunity as he changed his levels and hit him in his chest with a clean right cross. He tried to follow up by hitting the stunned Wrath with a left jab to the jaw, but Wrath parried that away and made Itachi pay for it with a sick jab to his body and cross to his face. Itachi powered through it and connected with a cross to Wrath's face. Before Itachi could follow up on it to try and string together a combination, Wrath parried Itachi's follow up attack and countered with a kick to Itachi's body.

Itachi saw that he was starting to be quicker with his counters. Wrath threw a right hook that Itachi was able to dodge with a level change and followed that up with a front kick to Wrath's body. Wrath pushed through the pain and threw a volley of punches, but Itachi only got hit by the last one. Wrath then changed his levels to throw a wide left hook. It was a move that Itachi mirrored as he changed his level to duck the hook shot and countered with another front kick. Only this time, Itachi was able to follow the kick up with a quick right handed back fist that surprised Wrath enough to halt an oncoming left hook. Wrath recovered though and threw a wide overhead right hook that Itachi saw a mile away as he ducked it to deliver a quick right hook to Wrath's body. When Itachi tried to follow up that attack with a power left hook shot, but Wrath ducked that attack to avoid damage. Wrath came back up with dangerous intent as a strong right cross was thrown. Itachi met him head on as he threw a right cross of his own. The result of the clash saw both the Uchiha get launched airborne as both went several feet backwards.

Wrath landed gracefully on his feet as he watched Itachi landed painfully on the ground from having taken the worst of that exchange thanks to Katamarimasu increasing the power of Wrath's attacks. He was disgusted that Itachi was starting to actually push him back in that taijutsu exchange just like he did in that last fight, _'He using his visual prowess to try and make up whatever distance there is between us in taijutsu. But that requires him to actually get in the trenches and stay there until his eyes can finally get a handle on my technique. A good strategy. Too bad for him that I have more than one fighting style.'_

Itachi back flipped away from where he landed and launched a surprise attack at his clone, _'Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!'_

' _He had time to weave hand signs during our exchange?!'_ Wrath thought as he quickly moved to weave hand signs of his own, "Well two can play that game! Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The two of them launched fire attacks that collided and resulted in a gigantic explosion that caused the entire room to be filled with smoke. Wrath couldn't see anything thanks to the smoke now and prepared his defenses accordingly. Itachi, on the hand, went straight on the offensive, _'Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!'_

A barrage of small fireballs was launched at Wrath through the smoke. Wrath saw them at the last second and weaved hand signs for a jutsu to block the attack, "Earth Style! Mud Wall Jutsu!"

A moderate sized wall of earth rose up from the ground to take on the brunt of the barrage. Just as he felt the barrage start to subside, Wrath was blindsided by a Fireball Jutsu that Itachi launched to coincide with the Phoenix Flower Jutsu he had launched earlier. Before the final blast could land, Wrath hardened his Mud Wall Jutsu with Hedoro and Katamarimasu to bulk up his defenses. The result of the clash was another explosion that further hindered Wrath's visibility of the field. Itachi took full advantage of it and charged ahead under the veil of the smoke.

Itachi was able to maneuver around Wrath's wall to try to get a clean stab at his opponent's back with a kunai. Wrath turned at the last second and drew a kunai of his own as the two clashed. Wrath wound up using his free hand to grab Itachi's wrist and halting the attack, and Itachi did the same thing as the two were in a standoff.

"I'm impressed. Using the fire jutsu to not only halt any offense I tried to mount, but also increase the density of the smoke to shield yourself from my eyes so that you could sneak around to get a shot at my back. I'd expect no less from you, Itachi. It's too bad that I also saw it coming a mile away!" Wrath revealed as a clone emerged from the ground with a Shinigami Scythe in hand.

Wrath swung the scythe at Itachi, who was helpless because Wrath's grip on him prevented him from escaping. Itachi planned for something like this to happen as it was revealed that the Itachi in Wrath's grip was just a shadow clone. The clone dematerialized into a flock of crows just before the clone could slice into it. When the flock of crows cleared, an airborne Itachi revealed himself, and he now had both Wrath and his clone in his sights as he prepared his next attack.

' _He sent that clone in to draw my trap out so that he'd have a clear shot at both of us,'_ Wrath thought as he saw Itachi weaved the necessary hand signs for yet another fire attack. He knew what that meant as Itachi aimed his blast directly at him, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The searing hot fireball shot directly at Wrath, whom had to think quickly or else he'd be burned to death by Itachi's flames. Before it could make impact, Wrath had his clone jump up to take the brunt of the attack. It resulted in the clone being incinerated into smoke. The fireball didn't stop there though and keep moving towards Wrath. Wrath knew he had only one option left as a defense against that and flared his chakra up in preparation of it. Itachi recognized it well since I was the main reason he lost their last fight; Wrath's Susanoo had finally revealed itself.

It was only a ribcage and left arm, but it did the job it needed to as the conjuring palmed the fire blast in is hand to shield its user from harm. Itachi decided to switch it up and take advantage of the fact that thanks to his Susanoo, Wrath was now one giant target that would be easy to hit with one of his more potent jutsu.

"Amaterasu!" Itachi's right eye started to bleed as the black heavenly flames shot at the fireball that was caught by Wrath's Susanoo and completed burned it away just like how he did with Sasuke's when they fought long ago. Only this time, the black flames kept going and engulfed Wrath's Susanoo as Itachi's goal was to burn everything down in his path. Wrath had no choice but to eject himself from his Susanoo and watch as it was burned away by Itachi's Amaterasu.

Itachi moved fast reengaged Wrath in combat with a forearm thrust before he could let up. Wrath met him head on with a forearm thrust as the two clashed and were in yet another standoff. Wrath leered at Itachi as he prepared his counter strategy. It was clear to him that Itachi was trying to even the playing field by using ninjutsu and misdirection. He knew that the only way to get this fight back in his favor was to get it back to a grounded taijutsu fight.

' _I'm not done yet!'_ Wrath thought as he rebounded backwards to get some distance. It was clear by Itachi's stance that he was confident enough in his ability to use his visual prowess that he was about to engage in taijutsu, _'He probably means to conserve chakra and thinks by how the last exchange went that he'd fare better than last time. Big mistake.'_

Wrath changed his fighting stance to more of a modern fighting stance rather than the traditional Uchiha taijutsu stance he had previously been using like Itachi. Wrath also rehardened his hands with Katamarimasu to increase his power. He could tell by the small shuffling of Itachi's feet that it threw him off. Both charged forward to reengage in a fight that would determine the fate of the world.

Itachi threw a front kick that Wrath checked down. He followed the kick with a wide left hook that Wrath blocked with ease. Itachi didn't stop there and threw a hook, cross, side kick, and knee combination that all got blocked by Wrath as well. Wrath saw an opening and hit Itachi with a straight right cross to his chest and added a strong front kick to push Itachi back. Itachi wound up with his back against the wall with Wrath closely stalking him down. Wrath threw a hook and cross at his opponent that were meant to take Itachi's head off. Itachi dodged both attacks which led to Wrath punching holes in the wall.

Itachi kicked Wrath in his midsection three times to push him back into an open area. Before Wrath could recover, Itachi kicked him two more times only this time in a face. One was a side kick to the head and the follow up was a spinning roundhouse heel kick. This time Wrath was the one who was put against the wall as Itachi eyed him down.

Wrath smiled before getting back into his stance, "I'm going to enjoy watching you die a third time, Itachi."

Wrath's fighting intensity grew even fiercer as he threw overhand left that pushed Itachi back even though he blocked both of them. The Katamarimasu made it feel like Itachi's arms were going to break just from blocking it. Wrath followed up with a right cross to Itachi's chest that stunned him. Itachi threw a kick to try a get Wrath pushed back, but his clone checked the kick and countered by delivering an oblique kick to Itachi's plant leg that was so powerful that it caused Itachi to lose his footing and led to Wrath punching him in the chest so hard that he flew back into the wall, leaving a giant hole from where his body made impact.

Itachi quickly rebounded by kicking Wrath back before the clone could do more damage. Itachi wanted to avoid Wrath's hardened fists at all costs. Itachi threw a right cross that Wrath caught since he saw it a mile away. Itachi used his free hand to slap Wrath's hand away and launched a volley of body shots to Wrath that all landed. In fact, Wrath didn't even make an attempt to block or dodge any of them as the final one ended with Itachi hitting him in his jaw. They seemed to have had little to no effect on him because he quickly countered by catching an incoming hook shot by Itachi and putting it under his arm in a chicken wing hold. When Itachi tried to use his free hand to free himself, that hand was put in a chicken win as well. Wrath started headbutting Itachi now that he had him within range.

After two headbutts, Itachi used his knee to create space to escape Wrath's clinch. Having seen that he was about to lose his grip on the hold, Wrath decided to release Itachi hands and hit him in his chest with a right cross to send him stumbling backwards. He slowly stalked Itachi before throwing a jab, hook, cross combination that Itachi was able to dodge. Itachi threw an overhand right chop to create an angle for a kick, but Wrath weaved in the opposite direction of what Itachi had intended to and now had a clean look at Itachi's ribs. Wrath delivered a hook shot and a forearm shiver to Itachi's ribs and finished the combination with an uppercut that had Itachi reeling.

Before Wrath could follow up with another combination, Itachi exploded forward with a head kick that push the clone backwards. Itachi then followed up with a backfist to Wrath's body, an elbow to his head, and a leaping knee that connected with Wrath's chest. Itachi didn't want to give Wrath time to recover and sprinted to his next attack which was a hook punch that led to a cross to Wrath's body. Only Wrath blocked the cross and landed one of his own that was so powerful that it sent Itachi back several feet.

Itachi landed on his back and started coughing up blood as his body reacted to the damage that it was taking. Itachi got back up, showing no fear of his clone, and got back into his fighting stance with conviction. Wrath charged forward with a leading jab, but this time it was Itachi who blocked it and wrapped it into a chicken wing hold. Itachi used his free hand to get a shot at Wrath jaw before the clone tried to get free of Itachi's grip. Itachi caught Wrath's free hand and wrapped it in a hold too. Now Itachi had Wrath trapped just like how he had Itachi trapped earlier. Wrath couldn't believe that Itachi was still copying his fighting style and pretty much learning on the fly. Itachi didn't used headbutts though, but instead went with high knees to Wrath's head.

After two, Itachi freed Wrath by kicking him backwards and summoned a kunai knife. He then sprinted at his clone and leapt into a triple air kick. He connected on all three kicks before landing and throwing a right cross at Wrath, who managed to grab Itachi's wrist to stop it right before it connected with his jaw. However, Wrath didn't see the kunai that Itachi had summoned and got surprised when Itachi revealed the kunai and plunged it right into Wrath's jugular. Wrath had blood oozing from his mouth and throat. He tried to rip the blade free, but Itachi kicked the hand away and kept on the attack to prevent his clone from healing himself.

Seeing that his clone was on the ropes, Itachi kept pushing the pace with a quick left hook to Wrath's head. Itachi then connected with a right cross to Wrath's chest and followed that up with a side kick to his chest as well. Itachi went for a roundhouse kick, but Wrath caught it and kept the leg straddled to his hip with no intention of letting go. It was fine with Itachi as he took advantage of the fact that Wrath only had one arm to block with now. Itachi connected with a right elbow to Wrath's jaw and a left hook that landed right behind Wrath's ear. He tried for another hook shot to get his leg to be let go of, but Wrath blocked it and lifted Itachi up in the air to slam him hard against the wall next to them.

Wrath had enough of this and decided to reestablish his grip on this fight. As Itachi slowly got back to his feet, Wrath greeted him with countless quick but powerful shots to his body that Itachi was unable to dodge. And with the power of Wrath's Katamarimasu, the attacks did devastating damage to Itachi.

Wrath lifted Itachi by his throat and punched him into a wall all the way on the other side of the facility. The impact was so great that dust riled up by where Itachi landed. And before Itachi even knew what hit him, Wrath launched an extremely deadly fire jutsu at him the further decimated the area, "Fire Style! Burning Cerberus Jutsu!"

The three headed fire-dog shot at Itachi and obliterated the surrounding area. It was one of Wrath's most powerful jutsu. Wrath wanted to end this fight now before he would be too exhausted to take on the Justice League at Arkham since he knew that with Itachi being here, that also meant that Superman was back too. Wrath tore out the kunai that was in his neck and steam started to emit from the wound healing itself.

Itachi was still on the ground in pain and covered by the dust as he heard the footsteps of his clone approaching. Just as the footsteps stopped, Itachi felt a sharp sensation return to his right eye. All of the previous pain seemed to be washed away as Itachi relished in this feeling. What was happening was that Itachi's Rinnegan was finally recharged and ready for full use in this fight. It was just in time for Itachi to absorb that fire jutsu before it could cause him any harm. The three tomoe on each of its two innermost circles had returned.

' _It's time. Now, we fight on my terms.'_ Itachi thought as his Rinnegan began to ominously glow.

* * *

The Team had all returned to the Cave thanks to Itachi taking control of Zatanna. Artemis was the last member to go through the portal before it was closed. Artemis got back up quickly and saw that Zatanna was out cold so there was no chance of getting her to reopen one. She kicked a chair in frustration as Carson ran in startled.

"What's going on- oh goodness, you're all back! Is it over? Did you all beat Wrath? Where's Itachi?" She asked with concern.

"Wow, Itachi's right. You do ask a lot of question without letting people the chance to answer any of them." Artemis noted as her frustration started to go away and she was left with disappointment and sadness.

"He talks about me? Well, what else does he say?" Carson slyly tried to ask. Robin shook his head with annoyance, "Really? Now is the time that you are asking this?"

"Sorry," She said with embarrassment. Robin shook his head as he got a med kit out to wrap his broken ribs up. Aqualad, who got smashed like a pancake from Wrath's Susanoo, felt sore all over. But despite all of that, he knew that this defeat was on him since he was the leader, "To be honest, I do not know if it is all over. Wrath defeated all of us and held us captive, but then Itachi arrived to challenge him. Artemis and Zatanna were able to recover us from our prisons and we were planning on joining Itachi for the final fight, but he had different plans."

"Oh no…" Carson knew how this story was going from her previous experience with Itachi. James finished explaining the situation, "Itachi took control of the magician and had all of us sent here while he went to fight Wrath alone."

"Why would he do that? We're a Team, but he refuses to fight with us when it matter most despite all of his promises of working together. I just don't get it." Wally commented as he had a bag of ice on his head from the psychic blast he took during the fight.

"I…I saw into his mind before we got sucked in that portal. I kinda get why he had us sent away." M'gann reveal as everyone turned to her. Artemis was in no mood to hear excuses as she just got done laying Zatanna on the couch to recover from the genjutsu she was placed under, "Nothing could excuse why he chooses to fight alone instead of with his friends. Why is he so prideful about admitting that he needs help?"

"Artemis, it's deeper than pride. Itachi…was scared." She revealed to the shock of everyone. They never would have guess that someone as powerful as Itachi, who has already died before, could be scared of anything. Carson asked what everyone was thinking, "Why was he scared?"

"Because Itachi didn't know if he could win against Wrath. He doesn't know how this is going to end and he didn't want to risk it." M'gann answered.

"But as a Team we could have beaten him." Wally retorted.

"You don't know that. We can say it out loud as a battle cry all we want but we don't know if we could have beaten him. But we do know that Wrath would kill Itachi if given the chance. And he would do it gruesomely." M'gann admitted.

"Is he scared of dying? We wouldn't have let that happen." Conner adamantly said.

"He's not scared of dying. Itachi grew up in death. What Itachi was scared of was us dying. Or worse, us watching him die…again. It was a single thought, but his most prevalent one when I read his mind. He wanted to make sure that neither of those scenarios happened. He cares about us too much to risk our safety. He sent us away to save us from seeing that if it were to occur." She revealed.

"I think I get it. I wouldn't want my friends to watch me die either." Robin admitted. Artemis looked down in sadness. She hated that Itachi always wound up being so right in the end. M'gann knew this was hard for her to hear, "I'm sorry Artemis, but I think he was right to send us away. We're all banged up and would only get in his way. Itachi may have feared about us seeing him die, but don't mistake that for him thinking that he expected to lose. Itachi, more than anything else, wants to come back home to see us again. He fights for the day we can be together without this chaos in our lives. Like how it was before. I think…the best thing we can do for him as his teammates is to stay behind and respect his wishes."

Almost everyone looked down in despair at having to accept those terms, even Artemis. She wanted more than anything else to fight side by side with Itachi again, but even she could admit that she didn't want to see him die again. It would break her heart all over again. There was only one member who refused to accept the state of things.

"I admit, as his teammates, it probably is the best thing for us to stay behind and leave it to Itachi," Everyone looked at Aqualad as he spoke. He stood up tall as he addressed the room, "But as his friends, all we'd be doing is giving up and throwing it all on Itachi to bare the weight of the world, and that I cannot accept. I will not sit here and do nothing. I will not wait here and let our friend die. Itachi will just have to hate me because his fate will be my fate. That's what friends are for; to help each other bare the weight."

Everyone's hope returned after hearing their leader's speech. They stopped feeling sorry for themselves and realized that they had a friend to go save, "M'gann, prep your bioship for launch. We're about to provide backup for our friend."

"You got it." She said as she went to make the preparations. Everyone else got ready to fight too as Artemis went over to Carson and James, "Please watch over her for me. We're going to bring Itachi home alive and well, I promise."

"Go get him." Carson assured her. James nodded in concurrence as Artemis went over to M'gann's bioship. Robin wondered what Aqualad ha planned for this daring rescue, "What do we do if the battle is still going on by the time we get there? Do we interfere?"

"No, we'd only get in the way. What we will do is be ready to step in should Itachi look like he's about to lose and get ready to save him. We will not let him die by Wrath's hands a second time. Is that understood?" Aqualad replied.

"You got it," They replied. Artemis smiled to herself as Wally went to give her hand a gentle squeeze, "Artemis, we'll bring our friend back home this time for sure so don't worry. Then we can all beat him up for worrying us."

"Yeah, you're right. Wrath won't know what hit him. And neither will Itachi when I get through with him." She swore as she cracked her knuckles. Wally nervously smiled as he felt bad for what was coming Itachi's way when this was all over.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Conner said.

"You heard the man. Let's take off!" Aqualad echoed.

"You got it!" M'gann had her bioship liftoff and fly away towards the Argus facility. They were determined to end this just like how they started this; together.

* * *

Wrath started walking towards where Itachi laid. His opponent hadn't moved in while so Wrath was sure that this would be the final attack of the fight. After this fight, Wrath would finally be able to put this behind him and move forward with his plans. It also meant that he could keep his promise to Cassandra and see her one more time.

"Itachi, it seems our time is about to come to an end. After this, I will go after the rest of the metahumans of this world, both villain and hero alike. I will eradicate both factions with extreme prejudice. Not that it will matter to you with you about to be killed in a few minutes, but an organization by the name of the Light has their eye on you and your friends. Their being targeted for elimination, but I'll save them because unlike you, they have a place in my new world. A role to fill. Now I will kill you, take your eyes, and be the savior to the world that you never could. It will take a while, but your friends will learn to get used to it. They might even come to like it given enough time. This is where your story ends and mine begins!" Wrath declared.

"Wrath, you have all of my rage and the heritage of the Uchiha wrapped inside of you, but in the end, you're still just a lost cause. You're nothing but a failed science experiment." Itachi coldly replied.

Wrath couldn't help but laugh at his reply, "Itachi Uchiha, still pretending to act like you're special. You're not the top Uchiha anymore, I am! I'll incinerate you to ash!"

Wrath weaved the hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu in preparation to follow through with his threat. Before he could fire the shot off though, Itachi suddenly exploded forward, got to Wrath's back, and stabbed him in the neck with a kunai similarly like how he did earlier in the fight, "I'll kill you like how I killed mother and father."

Wrath threw Itachi off of him as Itachi landed gracefully on his feet. Before Wrath could take a single step towards Itachi, he noticed something about the kunai that he knew only meant bad news. He saw that it had a paperbomb wrapped around it and before he could even try and tear it out of his neck, the bomb exploded.

Itachi looked on with no emotion as the dust settled and Wrath, though still alive, was in a mangled mess. His neck suffered major damage as parts of the bone were showing and from his left shoulder down to his left elbow had major third degree burns and contusions all over them. If Wrath hadn't had spread his Katamarimasu throughout most of his body, the damage would have been a lot worse. Lucky for Wrath, he also had his healing to recover from the attack. He doubled the healing time at the cost of his chakra levels taking a seismic drop.

"Was that enough blood for you?" Itachi asked.

"You…look what you did to me!" Wrath angrily yelled.

"What's wrong Wrath? I thought you liked that kind of sadistic violence. It must be only when your causing it." Itachi coldly replied.

Wrath launched his Fireball Jutsu at Itachi. The shinobi leapt high into the air and met Wrath with a corkscrew kick. Wrath caught it with his undamaged hand and applied pressure on the leg as he intended on breaking it, "Say goodbye to your leg!"

Itachi used a special ability of his Rinnegan to escape, "Timeshadow!"

Itachi disappeared from Wrath's grip much to his surprise and returned to the air like how he was moments ago, only Wrath was still in the position as if he still had Itachi's leg in his grip. Itachi took advantage of this and got the kick off clean this time and sent Wrath hurdling into a wall.

"Timeshadow is one of the new abilities I have thanks to my Rinnegan. For short intervals, I can manipulate time for either myself or a target in my line of sight. That means either going forward or backwards in time depending on the situation. So while I went back to before you caught my leg, you were unfortunately stuck in that moment as I got a second chance at hitting you. And I don't waste second chances. So after everything you've done and all of the people that you have killed, I don't see why I should waste giving a second chance to trash like you. None at all." Itachi stoically said as Wrath clawed his way back to his feet.

Wrath was beside himself with rage as he had all of the nearby Hedoro summoned to him. It started to climb up and incase his upper body in it like a cloak of armor, "I'll kill you. I swear it! I'll kill all of you! You'll die screaming! You're done for. I'll tear you apart!"

Wrath screamed as the transformation was completed. His Hedoro covered the upper half of his body and latched onto him like a parasite. It molded and took the form of an armored Susanoo from the waste up. He had his Shinigami Scythe in his armored hand as he made his intention known, "I will rip your spinal cord from out of your body and hang you with it!"

Itachi didn't look fazed one bit by Wrath's monstrous transformation. Wrath charged forward in an almost feral state and wasted no time in trying to kill Itachi. Itachi easily avoided the armored hammerfists of Wrath by simply flipping away. After three hammerfists, Wrath left himself open and Itachi took advantage by kicking him in the neck hard, though it had little to no effect on Wrath. Itachi then had to dodge two more attacks before coming back by weaving hand signs and launching a pointblank Fireball Jutsu at Wrath.

Wrath simply took the blast as the explosion rocked the room. Before Itachi could wonder if his attack did any damage, he got an answer when an armored, outstretched hand reached out, took him by the neck, and threw him across the room to a wall covered in Hedoro. Before Itachi made impact though, Wrath manipulated the Hedoro to form the shape of spikes and hardened them with Katamarimasu so that Itachi would be impaled on impact. Wrath looked on in glee as his ploy worked and Itachi made impact with the spikes as dust rose up into the air.

Just before he could gloat about his apparent victory, he heard footsteps saw that Itachi was still alive. In fact, he still had hardened spikes lodged inside of his body. But that wasn't what startled Wrath. It was the look on Itachi's face. Itachi was smiling even though he had spikes in his body, "I'm impressed. You truly are worthy of the Uchiha name, Wrath. Your mastery of your jutsu is almost second to none. It's so impressive that now I want to give it a try."

Itachi then used another ability of his Rinnegan, "Almighty Push."

The four spikes lodged in his body burst out of his body. Itachi maintained control of the spikes, though, as they were rotating around him in a circle. He balled his hands into a fist and the spikes all stopped spinning at once and started pointing at Wrath like he was their target. Wrath couldn't believe that Itachi was actually using his own jutsu against him. Itachi's look of impression soon turned into one of malcontent, "Time to give you a taste of your own medicine."

They both charged forward in a clash of two titans. Sparks flew and the ground shook from how their attacks collided with each other. Now that Itachi had weapons that were just as potent at Wrath's weapons, it was now just a battle of skill. It was ironic. Wrath defeated Itachi by using his own weapons against him and now Itachi has the chance to do the same to Wrath.

Itachi got airborne and started using the spikes to launch long ranged attacks at Wrath. Itachi noticed that Wrath's attacks had grown a lot slower from earlier on. He credited that to all of the bulk Wrath was carrying with all of the hardened armor on his body and attrition from their earlier fight. Itachi launched two of his spikes at Wrath's scythe to keep it out of play while he sent the other two directly at Wrath's body. The tactic worked as Itachi's second pair of spikes hit Wrath with a direct attack. Itachi landed on his feet as his spikes returned to him as he waited to see what Wrath's next move would be.

Furious with how this fight was going, Wrath sprinted forwards with ruthless aggression as he desperately tried to hurry up and kill Itachi. Itachi easily dodged the charge and used his spikes to block and parry every swipe Wrath made with his Shinigami Scythe. In fact, the scythe was all Itachi was even attacking. Before Wrath could figure out what Itachi was planning, Itachi ducked a wide slash that Wrath had attempted, combined all four of the spikes together, and cut through Wrath's right arm so cleanly that Itachi tore it off completely.

Wrath shouted in pain as his arm and Shinigami Scythe went airborne. Itachi dropped control of his spikes and leapt up into the air, "The weapon of yours that I wanted to use to defeat you wasn't the hardened spikes. It was your Shinigami Scythe! Universal Pull!"

Wrath could only watch in fear as the scythe flew back into Itachi's hand. Wrath knew that he had no way of blocking an attack from his scythe and tried to run away. Itachi gripped the scythe with both hand before he swung it down hard at a defenseless Wrath. The result was Wrath being stabbed in the back by his own scythe and being slammed into a crater.

When the dust settled, Itachi stood tall as Wrath's armor withered away from him losing the chakra needed to maintain it. Wrath was desperate and knew that he had to get away somehow to avoid Itachi killing him. He slowly got up and started running as fast as he could, which wasn't fast at all given the state he was in. Itachi showed no mercy as he called out his next attack, "Universal Pull."

Wrath had expected to have his body pulled back to Itachi, but Itachi had something different in mind. Instead, Wrath's femur bone was broken and pulled outside of Wrath's leg in a horrific compound fracture. Wrath fell to the ground while shrieking in immense pain. When he tried to get back up, Itachi did it again only this time to his other leg. Now Wrath had two horribly broken legs and no chance of escape.

This didn't stop Wrath from trying as he started using his fingers to drag himself away. Itachi saw this and used his Universal Pull to break all of the fingers in both of Wraths hands. It also meant that Wrath couldn't use anymore jutsu. Wrath screamed as his fingers were pulled back and bent in direction that they were never meant to bend. Itachi began walking towards his clone.

Wrath heard this and began using his chin to desperately drag himself away, which was impressive considering he still had a giant scythe in his back. Itachi decided to switch it up and used Almighty Push to literally cave Wrath's chest in. Wrath halted and tried to scream but was in so much pain that hardly any sound came out. By the time Itachi had caught up with Wrath, he had all but given up already. Itachi painfully yanked the scythe from Wrath's back and threw away from them. He didn't want to risk Wrath finding a way to use it as a last ditch attack.

"It must feel humiliating. To get so close to your goals, only to have them come crashing down. I bet this is how the corrupted Uchiha clan members felt when I thwarted their plans for a coup. I told you that you would die like father and mother; stabbed in the back by me. Only I have had a change of heart. Now if I remember correctly, you said that you would incinerate me to ash. So I believe it'll only be justice, when I incinerate you instead. Amaterasu!" Itachi set Wrath on fire with his black flames.

Itachi watched as his clone's clothes and flesh were melted away by the searing heat. Wrath screamed as his body became horribly disfigured thanks to being burned. But before the flames could completely take Wrath, Itachi used his Almighty Push to blow the flames off of Wrath. Though massive damage had been done, Wrath had been spared, for now. Itachi flipped him on his back before addressing him next.

"I'm taking father's eyes back. They never belonged to you in the first place." Itachi said as he got ready to rip Wrath's eyes away.

"Wait, please…" Itachi halted as Wrath spoke to him. He was surprised his clone was still conscious, but decided to humor him out, "You're not stopping me from taking your eyes, but I'll hear what you have to say."

"I…I don't…care…about my…eyes. I have…a request. Two…children…I met and…care about. Cassandra Cain, she's…with that cat. Please, Itachi…make sure…they take care of…her. She…deserves to be happy…after what…Dollmaker did to her. She will…cry when she…learns that…I am dead. Make her…happy." Wrath begged.

Itachi put two and two together and guess that she was one of the children Wrath saved when he killed the Dollmaker. It was another reminder that they weren't all that different in the grand scheme of things. They just were on opposite sides of how to go about doing things. Itachi was no curious about the second child, "And the other one? What's the second child's name?"

"Ja-Jason…Todd. On the same night…that I saved Cassandra…from Dollmaker, I murdered Jason's…family. The Gotham Cathedral, his parents were there that night…looking for him. Jason…is angry. Wants…to kill me and all who are like me. That anger…will go to you when I die. And after that…to the world. Find him…and don't let him be like…us. Defined…by death. Please, do this for me. I wanted…to do evil things…to stop evil...and change the world. I never…wanted to create…evil. Save him…from us." Wrath pleaded.

Itachi felt sympathy for his clone. Even though he was evil, Wrath was still apart of him. Itachi nodded his head and gave his answer, "I'll look after the children and make sure they don't end up like us. You have my word."

"Ha…the word of…a liar. What good…is that?" Wrath said with a smile. Itachi shook his head before getting ready to kill his clone. He then noticed that something felt off. He looked down as saw that one of Wrath's hands had repaired themselves and he had formed a tiger hand seal.

Itachi looked back at Wrath who still had a smile on his face, "Told you. A liar's word…is no…good. Later."

The entire Argus facility started falling apart as explosions were felt throughout the complex. Itachi had to leap backwards to avoid a giant piece of debris that fell right on top of where he and Wrath were. Itachi looked on and saw that the entire room was falling apart. Itachi only had one problem though; because of how many times he used his Rinnegan during his fight it now had to recharge before he could use it again. Also, Itachi didn't have enough chakra for even a simple clone jutsu. Itachi dropped to a knee. He could barely move and was barely still conscious so he was resigned to the fact that this room just might be his tomb as well.

' _I've lived a good life here on this Earth. I met some great friends here too. Sorry guys, looks like there won't be a next time. And sorry to you too, Carson. I wish…I wish that we had spent more time together. At least now I know that you'll be safe.'_ Itachi thought with a smile on his face.

" **Hey jerkface! You are out of your kunai throwing mind if you think you can get rid of us that easily! Look up."** Itachi couldn't believe what he had just heard and sure enough, there was Artemis, riding on top of M'gann's bioship. His friends had really come back for him.

" **Do you think you can get him through all of this falling debris?"** Robin telepathically asked.

" **No doubt in my mind I can,"** Artemis launched an arrow that was tied to a string that was clipped on M'gann's ship. The arrowhead dispersed once it got near Itachi and wrapped around him securely, **"I got him! Let's get out of here!"**

" **Alright, hang on tight!"** M'gann navigated her ship through the falling debris as Artemis started pulling Itachi back up, **"Superboy, I could use some help pulling Itachi up."**

" **I'm on my way!"** Conner made his way to the roof and helped in pulling Itachi to safety as Artemis shot away any of the debris that got close to Itachi. After a few pulls, Conner got Itachi to the roof, unstrapped him, and got him and Artemis back inside where it was safe. M'gann also made it out of the debris and into the air safe and sound as well.

When everyone got inside the ship, they all ran to hug their friend. Itachi didn't know what else to do but be happy. His friends were all okay and actually came back to save him. He smiled with gratitude for his friends, "Thank you."

"We're just glad to have you back. Did you beat Wrath?" M'gann asked. Itachi smiled at her and nodded, "This nightmare is over. I beat him."

"Woohooo!" The heroes celebrated Itachi's victory. Itachi nervously smiled as he took in their genuine looks of joy and relief. Itachi looked down at the destroyed field and knew he had one thing left to do, "M'gann, can you take me back down there. I have to make sure Wrath is dead."

"Dead…" She repeated as the others looked to him for an answer. He nodded as the ship started to lower to the ground, "I can't let him live."

The ship started scanning the area as they all patiently waited. When the scan was done, M'gann turned around to deliver the results, "The scans turned up empty. There is nothing alive down there."

"Then it really is over. We can finally move on." Itachi said as he deactivated his Sharingan. The others smiled before Artemis punched in his arm as hard as she could, "Don't you ever scare us like that again! Sending us away like that. Friends don't do that to each other, we save each other."

"I'm sorry, Artemis. I just didn't want you guys to get hurt." Itachi explained as she caved in and hugged her friend. Everyone was glad that the threat of Wrath was behind them. Kid Flash sat back down and got ready for their next trip, "Let's go back home. I'm sure Itachi's little girlfriend misses him as much as we do."

They all laughed as Itachi stoically looked on to try and ignore his friend's dumb comment. The plane blasted forward to take the heroes back home so that they could properly celebrate their victory amongst each other.

* * *

When the Team got back to the Cave, they were greeted by the Justice League, Zatanna, James and Carson. The Team got off the ship and Itachi immediately felt the consequences of his recent action. One of the consequences was Zatanna punching him in the face and her muttering about never being put in a genjutsu again. The others didn't even try to hide their laughter at Itachi's misfortune. But after she got that punch off, Zatanna hugged her friend and welcomed him back.

The Leaguers all greeted Itachi back too. Only Batman decided to be absent. Canary explained that after Superman came back and quickly took care of the inmates, he decided to stay behind and conduct interviews to help repair the image of the League. Batman said he had better things to do waste his time at a celebration. Robin wasn't surprised at all by this and knew that he would have a chance to talk to Bruce back at the mention when there was more privacy between the two.

After the interviews, Superman went off to visit Billy to make sure the boy was okay. The man of steel was glad to learn that Billy survived and wanted nothing but to see him personally. The Team could look at the monitors and see highlights of Superman literally swooping in and saving the day as a red and blue blur flew past and took out everything in sight. The only person not surprised by his appearance was Batman and that was probably because he was busy punching Deadshot's face into a wall.

"It really is good to have you back. I take it you defeated Wrath?" Canary asked.

"I did. He won't be bothering us anymore." Itachi answered.

"Good, now we can focus on the Masked Stranger." Superman said as he floated down from the air in a surprise to everyone. He probably had just gotten back from visiting Billy.

"How was Billy?" Itachi asked.

"He's in high spirits and can't wait to rejoin the League on active duty. I tried to talk him out of it, but the kid wouldn't have it. Says being a hero means more to him than anything in the world. He also can't wait to see you again, Itachi." Superman replied. He saw Conner giving him looks when he thought he wasn't looking and decided to throw him an olive branch by smiling at him. He figured there was no point in distancing himself from Conner forever.

"We'll finally take that evil dude down!" Wally declared as mostly everyone agreed with him.

"That 'dude' for starters isn't a man. The Masked Stranger is a woman." Superman revealed.

"How can you be sure?" Aquaman asked in shock.

"When we fought, I got more than close enough to her to see that she had a woman's body under that cloak. I just couldn't see under her mask. I think it is made out of lead. She hides it well by masking her voice, but I have no doubt that the Masked Stranger is a woman." Superman repeated.

"Itachi, do you know anyone woman who could possibly be the Masked Stranger?" Flash asked.

"No, but whoever she is, I'll be ready for her." Itachi declared. Aqualad walked up to his friend and put his hand on his should, "I think you mean we'll be ready for her."

"Yeah, we'll be ready for her." Itachi corrected himself. He saw Carson off at a distance by herself and went over to her, "Ready to have that talk?"

"Definitely," Carson responded as the pair snuck off to be alone. James and Artemis both looked on at the pair. Artemis was hopeful that the two of them could finally find closure while James hoped that Itachi would finally make his sister happy. With all of the hell and pain she had experience in her life, with some of it being thanks to him, he figured she was due a happy ending.

Itachi and Carson walked by the base of the waterfall and stared at the water in all of its beauty. Carson stole a glance at Itachi and he caught her eye and smiled. It was the first time Carson had really taken in Itachi's appearance since he was brought back. In many ways, she felt he was still the same dork that she had fallen in love with, but in others she could see that Itachi left that world a different person. One of those reasons being his right eye.

"Can you turn the purple eye thing off? Not saying I feel this way, but it can be off-putting." Carson noted.

"I can't. This is a genetic mutation. I can stop drawing power from it, but my Rinnegan will stay like that forever." Itachi said as he used his hair to cover his right eye.

"We're going to have to get you an eyepatch for when you go back to work. Can't go around selling masks with a purple eye." She joked.

Itachi shook his head at her lame joke, "I missed this…missed you."

Carson blushed at Itachi's confession. Itachi turned to face her as the pair gazed upon each other. Carson took this opportunity to get something off of her chest, "Itachi listen, back before…with Wrath and what you saw us doing, and I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I really, really thought that he was you and never would have kissed him otherwise. You got hurt because of me, both physically and emotionally. I only want to see you smile and be at peace. And when I saw you after Wrath caved that building on us, and you gave me that cold look, it broke my heart."

Itachi wasn't surprised by her guilt. He knew that she had internalize that moment since it led to him being trapped by his Totsuka Blade, "I don't blame you for what happened with Wrath. There was no way for you to have known. I don't blame your brother either. With everything that I did in the name of protecting Sasuke, I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world. Seeing you kiss him did bother me, but only because it highlighted just how much Wrath had already beaten me. But if it is what you want, I forgive you."

After hearing Itachi say that he had forgiven her, Carson was with joy and relief. She cupped the side of his face and gazed into Itachi's eyes. She even brushed his hair out of the way so that she could see both of his eyes. Itachi had a feeling about what was about to happen, but still made no move to stop it. He was done stopping his happiness.

"I saw you die in front of me, Itachi. When you did, I felt like a part of me died with you. I don't know why, but I've become so close to with you. From a stranger, to my hero, and now my lover. I don't know what life will throw at us after all of this craziness, but I know you'll always be there to save me…and come home to me. Will you always come home to me?"

"...always." Itachi responded. That was all Carson needed to hear as she pulled Itachi down to here and kissed him. It was soft and gentle, almost like a spark. At first Itachi didn't move, but eventually he placed his hands on her waist. Itachi couldn't deny that he liked kissing Carson and Carson had no problem admitting that she relished in kissing him. When the kiss ended, Carson shyly looked at Itachi. Because of Itachi's usual emotionless demeanor, it was hard for her to tell if he liked the kiss or not.

"So was that good?" Itachi nodded at her. She figured that the non-vocal responses just came with the package. She shook her head at what she was getting herself into, "So…are we a thing now?"

"…let's take it one day at a time. But you do have my permission to kiss me when the situation calls for it." Itachi joked.

"We can do one day at a time. And was that an actual joke? From you? And hey! What do you mean I need your permission to kiss you?" Carson said to voice her gripe.

"We can talk about it more in depth later." Itachi said as he turned to walk away.

"Wait, why not now," Carson asked. Itachi summoned his crow mask as he turned back to her, "I've been away from Gotham for months. And with all of the chaos, I'm sure that the creeps in that city have taken advantage of my absence. It's time I reminded them that Gotham still belongs to the people."

"Wow, so soon? You don't waste time at all. But is that really all?" Carson said while giving him a knowing look.

"…and to let Ms. Yumi know that I'm alive. She's probably worried sick about me. No, now that I think about it, she probably has a meal waiting for me. She always believes that I'll find a way to win in the end. She's waited her entire life for me. I won't keep her waiting ever again." Itachi revealed.

"Well get to it then, dork. So…can I give you a goodbye kiss?" she asked. Itachi motioned for her to come over to him like how he used to do with Sasuke. She jogged over to him as she got ready for their second kiss, and just like with Sasuke, Itachi poked her in the forehead to stop her at the last second, "Maybe next time."

"You're such a tease." She said as she rubbed her forehead. Itachi put his mask on and teleported away. Just as Itachi left, Artemis walked over to Carson. It was safe to assume that Artemis knew what went down. They stared off in the distance as a semblance of peace finally washed over them, "There he goes again. Off being a hero."

"Yeah, but at least now we know that he'll come back home to us." Carson replied.

"Yeah, he has friends to make sure of that." Artemis added.

* * *

Back in the genjutsu world of the Totsuka Blade, Nagato stood next to an unknown associate as the pair stared into a blank void that seemed never ending. The figured removed its cloak and reveal itself as the Sage of Six Paths. Nagato looked at his companion as questions ran through his mind.

"This Masked Stranger, it isn't Madara, right?" Nagato asked.

"No, Madara's soul is still at rest." The sage answered.

"Do you know who this person is behind the mask?" Nagato said as a follow up.

"I do. It is someone who is of great importance to both Itachi and I." The sage revealed.

"Why haven't you told Itachi? He could end this madness and kill them." Nagato argued.

"It is complicated. But the child can't learn the identity from me. He has to piece it together on his own." The sage replied.

"That is a cruel answer. You bring Itachi back from the dead and send him to some unknown world to fight this Stranger for you, and you don't even have the gall to tell him the truth. You even brought me back from death, sealed me in this world again, and forced me to lie to Itachi and say that I've been here the entire time. My soul was released when Itachi undid the Reanimation Jutsu and yet here I stood in this hell, waiting for Itachi on your orders. You're playing a dangerous game with people's lives. What is the endgame?" Nagato inquired.

"To fix what I had once broken. I apologize for disturbing your rest, but you were needed to get the child to unlock his full powers. Now, she will make her final move and we can only hope that the child is ready for her." The sage answered.

"At least answer me this; are you the reason why Itachi had Senju Clan cells in his body and was ultimately able to unlock the Rinnegan?" Nagato asked.

"No…that was not my doing. Someone one else put those cells in his body." The sage revealed.

"I see. Whatever your plan is, I hope it ends well." Nagato said as his body began to fade.

"We shall see." Nagato faded away, but the sage was busy watching something that would start a dangerous chain reaction that would reveal the Masked Stranger's master plan.

Wrath had somehow survived the collapse of Argus. He used whatever strength he had left to encase his body with Hedoro and harden it before he was crushed to death. He laid there encased in armor until he was sure that the young heroes had left the scene. Wrath undid the jutsu and started crawling away. He still didn't have use of most of his limbs because of how slow his healing was, so Wrath was stuck with only using one hand.

' _I'm not dead yet. I'll be back, and when I do, you had better watch out Itachi. You still owe me blood!'_ Wrath crawled for what seemed like hours. His only goal was survival. Wrath refused to believe that this is where his story would end, "If Itachi can unlock the Rinnegan, then I can too. I just have to train harder. When I do, I swear I'll make sure Itachi stays dead. I will not be a chapter in his story!"

Wrath heard footsteps coming up from behind and turned to see his mentor, The Masked Stranger, was behind him. The woman stared down at the defeated clone and showed no outward reaction, "You're still alive after all."

"Help me, please. Itachi will pay for this." Wrath said to his mentor. The Stranger took in his appearance, "The femur bones in both your legs are broken and it seems one of your hands got its fingers broken too. And from the looks of things, you suffered problematic spinal damage. Why hasn't your healing kicked in yet?"

"My chest was caved in. I needed to focus on that first so I could properly breathe and then I healed my right hand so that I could use my failsafe plan to escape. I won't let this failure deter me from my goals to change the world…our goals." Wrath promised.

"Our goals, huh. I think you're mistaken on a few fronts. First of them being that you think we share the same goals, we don't. Another is that you think that you failed. You didn't fail at all. Well, maybe you failed at your aspirations, but not at mine." The Masked Stanger said as she looked down at him.

"What do you mean? We both wanted Itachi dead and to change the world." Wrath said as he thought that this was her goal. She shook her head at him, "You poor, easily manipulated fool. I never wanted Itachi dead. Now if you had managed to kill him, I would have had a backup plan. But the goal was always for him to win. And because of you, now I can go into the final stages of my plan because Itachi has finally unlocked the Rinnegan. It was the last piece of the puzzle."

"You…were using me?" Wrath asked with trepidation.

"Of course. It was the reason I created you. You weren't born Wrath, you were built. And all for my benefit. I needed someone strong enough to push Itachi to both his physical and emotional limits, and you did so very well. The Rinnegan is such a strange thing to understand and completely random on when it activates itself. I needed you to speed up that process. Not only did you do that, but you also managed to weaken the Justice League by killing its approval rating with the people. It was wonderful to watch. All I had to do was slice a boy's neck open and beat up on some heroes in space. You literally did all of the hard work for me." The Stranger said smugly as she put her foot on Wrath's throat.

"I should have killed you when I first met you." Wrath said as he glared at the Stranger. She laughed him in response, "You really should have. Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?"

"And what would you have done if I had killed Itachi? I sure was close to it." Wrath taunted as he tried to remover her foot, but it was stuck like steel.

"Oh, that answer is very simple; you. You were created to be Itachi's spare should he die before he unlocked the Rinnegan. I told you, you were built." The Stranger revealed.

The Stranger's hand lit up as she activated her red lightning and she impaled his chest and had a grip on Wrath's heart. Wrath gasped from the pain he felt, "Now, here comes the unfortunate news. In order to get Itachi to unlock the Rinnegan, I had to deplete most of my chakra and life-force. Which means now I need a spare."

By the look of fear in Wrath's eyes, the Stranger could tell that Wrath knew what she meant by that, "I'll be taking your body and eyes now. Since I now know that it can produce a Rinnegan, it means after I've taken over your body and steal Itachi's Rinnegan eye, I'll be able to use it to its fullest potential. And with your healing abilities, it'll solve another problem of mine that has been nagging me. Now all I have to do is wait for the Day of Golden Light."

"This was your plan for the very beginning, wasn't it? You won't kill Itachi with something like this." He said out of defiance. She responded by pulling his heart further out of his body and squeezing it, "Oh, like how you were able to kill Itachi? Who says that's what I even have planned for him. Itachi is special to me and killing him is the last thing I want to do. I want to save him from the lies that have pitted him against me. He will eventually see that I am in the right and all that he considers good is already lost and corrupted. This has been in the works for a long time. I plan for the long haul. I will change the world, but in my image, not yours or the image of some decrepit clan that died off years ago. Don't be so sad, you'll bring about the force that changes everything. Just not in the way you had hoped you would."

The Stranger then made the final squeeze and paralyzed Wrath with her lightning. She learned all too well that no amount of healing can ever fix a broken heart. She placed his heart back inside his chest, hoisted his body over her should, and radioed for Vandal Savage, "Savage, this is Stranger. Prep my room. After the body transfer jutsu is complete, it will be a while before I can rejoin you and the others before the final stage begins. Make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Understood." The Masked Stranger looked up at the moon as it reminded her of that fateful night that started all of this, "I will save you, Itachi. That old man will pay for what he has done to us."

* * *

This chapter and saga is done! It took a very long time, but we are officially in the third act of this story. The fight scene was the main reason it took so long, I wanted it to be perfect in terms of epicness and storytelling. I only started once I was satisfied with the fight so I hope you all really like it. I hope everyone had a great holiday break and are starting 2019 off great. We all know Wrath isn't off to a great start. He got his butt kicked by Itachi and had his heart ripped out by the Masked Stranger. His story may be over, but he is still going to play a big part of the end. We saw a great many things get revealed this chapter and it is a lot to take in. I was so happy to write the Team's reunion. Friends always stick together in the end. Also, Carson and Itachi finally kissed! I know for a fact more than a few of you were looking forward to it and I hope it didn't disappoint. It's so like Itachi to tease her in the end. We will be getting back to the Young Justice episode arc now since Wrath has been dealt with, but look out for more small teases about the Stranger's master plans. She is nobody to be trifled with (and yes I had her as a woman this entire time. Literally only like two people guessed that, lol). We're about to see just how ahead of the game she has been on everybody, and I'm talking miles ahead. Thanks you to everyone who liked the last chapter. You guys are the best support ever and I'm glad to be a part of this community with you all. Don't forget to favorite, follow, review, or PM to tell me what you thought of this chapter. I hope you all got the same satisfaction that I got. I'm aiming to get the next chapter done in under 3 weeks, but don't hold me to that because work sucks! Anyways, until next time guys and gals!


	36. Insecure

**10868letsgo - Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Kinaki747 – Thank you for the kind review. It truly is humbling and means a lot to me.**

 **Djberneman – For the purposes of maintaining the story's integrity, I won't confirm nor deny any of the Masked Stranger identity guesses. What I will do is give you and anyone else a shout out if you wind up actually being right when the big reveal finally happens.**

 **Andresskorskiruiz – I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

 **Anime hotty lover.18 – It means so much to hear you say that. You have been so supported of me throughout this story and I am truly grateful for that. This is the last arc so buckle up for this one for sure.**

 **Canix – I won't confirm nor deny your guess. Just gotta keep reading to see if you are right.**

 **Mr. Shiki – I don't want you to lose your balls or anything, lol. But you're just gonna have to wait till the big reveal happens. I'll shout you out if you are right.**

 **Brave2000 – Yeah it felt good to do a small scale chapter again. It's a lot easier to write than some of the more epic ones from the last arc.**

 **Rio Skyron – I decided to treat you guys with a quick upload. You all are the best.**

 **1968 – I can't say who it is or what clan they belong to (if they even belong to one at all). No funerals this chapter.**

 **Gabe – Yup, I had to end it with a bang.**

 **Klexxsny – who likes an OP character? I'm glad you do but that doesn't usually bold well for good storytelling.**

 **Eugene – nah, not once in that chapter did I write that Nabu was scared of Itachi. I wrote that he was pissed at him, which was very true lol.**

* * *

"I don't know about this. What if he shows up?" A thug said worriedly as he got out of a car.

"Who Batman? He's too busy trying to save the world to care about small fries like us." The thug's companion responded. Since E-Day, the Justice League had been working into overdrive to try and to repair its image.

"Yeah, but Batman still patrols this city. I heard that he stopped a bank robbery by Two-Face's thugs last week. And plus, there are rumors that the Crow is back in this city. I don't want to meet that guy." The thug said as sweat dripped down his face.

"Stop being such a coward. The Crow ain't been seen since that Wrath fellow smacked him up and down this city. That creep is dead and Batman will be next if he shows his ugly face. We run this city now!" The criminal said to his accomplice as they headed towards their destination. Since E-Day, it has been open season on control of Gotham's criminal underground. The criminal currently in the lead of that race was Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin. He was spearheading his crew through all of the competition thanks to his access to weapon's ammunitions. In Gotham, those who have the guns have the power.

Penguin had been selling to smalltime gangs throughout the city without impunity for over a month and a half thanks to Gotham's vigilantes being preoccupied with the likes of Wrath. Criminals like Penguin and Two-Face took advantage of the chaos that day and used their power to seize control over the city as crime skyrocketed. Murder, theft, extortion, and the illegal sale of drugs and arms; these gangs did whatever they wanted.

Tonight, a big gun deal was going down in an abandoned factory over by one of Gotham's piers. The two thugs made it inside and saw their boss sitting in the corner of a dimly lit section of the factory. He had two automatic rifles in his hands and a giant cigar in his mouth as he was counting the advance down payment that he collected before even agreeing to meet this gang and negotiate a price for the guns. He had become so powerful that you had to pay just to speak with him.

"It's about time you idiots got here! Were you two blokes followed?" The Penguin inquired as he put out his cigar. They both shook their head as their boss loaded up the last of the rounds into the gun magazine. He tossed the gun at them as they barely managed to catch it in time. The thugs put it with the other guns as the other gang started showing up, "Good, last thing we need is to be made to look bad in front of company. Everything checks out?"

"Yes boss. The gang has the money and they aren't rats." The thug confirmed.

"Good, last thing we need is to waste our customers. It's bad for business. Who'd want to buy from me if they thought I'd just kill them in the end?" Penguin said as the thugs shrugged in silence.

Penguin's enforcer stepped forward and revealed himself. The man was ripped to the max with muscles and stood at an impressive 6'5 inches. He probably weighed around two hundred and fifty pounds. He growled with annoyance, "The boss asked you idiots a question."

The talkative thug gulped as the coward one sent a silent prayer. The brave one stepped forward as he answered, "M-My apologies, sir. Uh, everyone."

"Wrong," The Penguin shot the thug with a .22 revolver and killed the man instantly. His companion closed his eyes in fear of having seen someone be murdered in front of him for the first time. Penguin eyed the corpse in disgust, "No one, that's who'd buy from me you bloody idiot."

"Want me to kill the other one, boss?" The enforcer asked. Penguin shook his head, "No because no one would want to work for me if all I did was kill my employees too. Thomas, that's you name right? Come here."

Thomas stepped forward as Penguin put another round in his revolver, "Do you know why he died?"

"B-Because he didn't answer you…" Thomas answered fearfully. Penguin chuckled at Thomas, "No boy, because he was stupid and I can't have stupid people in my crew. Are you stupid?"

"No sir!" Thomas answered immediately. Penguin nodded his head as the other thugs walked out of the room to greet the other gang before the sale went down, "We'll find out soon. If you aren't stupid and you do what you're told, you're gonna be a rich bloke, Thomas. But, if you are stupid and I find out, you'll end up like him there. Dead on the floor. Understand?"

Thomas quickly nodded his head, "Yes sir, I understand."

"Good, now go help greet our guests," Thomas began to walk out to do what he was told. Before he could leave the room though, Penguin spoke again, "You have a sister, right? Her name is Sophia. She's a freshman in college and you're doing this to pay for her school, right?"

"Yes sir, but how did you know that?" Thomas asked. He immediately regretted that when Penguin answered.

"Because I'm no idiot. I know about everyone in my crew. That's why Jacob over there is lucky he had no family or else they'd be dead too. You better do well tonight because if you don't, well it can't be helped. Julius here likes his women more seasoned, but I guess he should be able to make due with breaking Sophia in. That doesn't bother you, does it?" Penguin asked to test Thomas.

"No sir." Thomas asked in a defeated voice. He knew he was trapped now. Penguin smiled at him as he got off of his chair, "Good on ya, mate. You just might be a smart man after all. Now let's go greet our guests."

Penguin, Julius, and Thomas all walked downstairs and saw the Black Vipers, the gang purchasing the guns, already inspected the guns they were about to buy. Penguin smiled as he saw another good gun deal going down, ''I see you like that one. It's called the Scorpion. A personal favorite of mine and for the right price, a favorite of yours too."

"How much for it?" The gang leader asked. Penguin fake pondered as he replied back, "Hm, I'll do you a favor as a sign of good faith and give you a discount for it. One grand extra added to your total to throw it in with the rest of the guns you purchased."

"That's over ten grand you're charging me then!" The gang leader complained. Penguin's thugs raised their guns in response and the rival gang did the same as the two were in a stalemate. Only Penguin's men all had semiautomatic weapons as opposed to the pistols that the Black Vipers had. That show of strength made Penguin's point.

"Look kid, running this city ain't cheap. You need men, money, and guns. You have two of the three and all you need to get the third is a little over ten grand. Imagine how much money you can take with those guns instead of the water guns your men have now. You'll easily get that money back. Or you could do something stupid, get your entire crew killed, and I take the money instead. Which sounds like the smarter choice?" Penguin asked him.

The thug growled before signaling for his mean to put their guns down. He turned as called for his right-hand man, "Get the money."

Penguin smiled as he signaled for his men to put their weapons down, "See Thomas, smart men stay alive."

"I see sir," They all patiently waited for the thug to return with the money. When the thug got to the car though, he saw that the driver was unconscious. He turned in a panic to announce the news, "He's out cold!"

"What the hell? I'm not the one to be messing with, boy!" Penguin shouted as his men put up their guns and aimed them at the buyers. The gang leader immediately tried to placate the situation by explaining that he would have no reason to knockout his partner. He then took it a step further, "It had to be that Batfreak. He still thinks he runs this city!"

"Come out Batfreak! If you don't, I'll come find ya! And when I do, I'll put a bullet in every bone in your body. I have enough rounds for that." Cobblepot threatened.

There was no verbal response to Penguin's threat. He signaled for his men to search the warehouse and hunt the vigilante down. He went to light up a cigar and took a puff, but what came out wasn't the satisfying smoke he was expecting. Instead, a bloody scream came out as he found a kunai lodged into the back of his left leg. Julius ran to guard him by acting as a shield and stepping in front of him.

"Ahhh! Somebody get this bloody thing out of my leg!" Penguin ordered. Unfortunately for him, he got his wish as he felt a presence suddenly appear behind him, "That thing is my kunai. And if you want it out so bad, I'll happily oblige."

The kunai was roughly pulled out of Penguin's leg as the villain dropped to a knee in pain. Cobblepot and his guard turned to see the culprit was none other than Jacob, the man he had shot earlier.

"You! You're supposed to be dead." Penguin muttered as he tried to stop the bleeding in his leg. Jacob shook his head at the crime lord, "Not quite. I guess in the end, the only idiot here wound up being you. Still confused? Let me show you who I really am."

Jacob went up in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke dissipated, The Crow was revealed as the vigilante glared at the crime lord. Penguin gulped as he realized that he was looking up at a man even more brutal than Batman, "Crow?! B-But how? I shot you dead. I saw the blood on the floor."

"You saw what I wanted you to see," Crow then loosened his anbu vest as an empty pack of red liquid fell out as well as the bullet Penguin shot at him. Penguin had no idea what was going on so Crow decided to explain it for him, "Thanks to my new powers, the bullet never even touched me. It only pierced the pack of blood I had hidden under my vest. The blood that you saw splatter wasn't mine. To even get this deep undercover I had to capture someone close enough to you to know something and…interrogate him. All that blood was the result of that interrogation. I left him alive, but just barely. Just enough for the police to round him up and put him away."

"You…you monster! You're gonna get yours." Penguin shouted. He felt the rest of the men converging on the location and got arrogant, "You hear that, mate? That's the sound of all my guns about to be emptied into your cold, dead corpse."

"Really, because I thought I took care of all of them already." Crow corrected much to Penguin's confusion. Penguin shook the confusion off and ordered the surrounding men to fire, but none of them listened. That was when Crow put up a tiger hand sign and undid the genjutsu that Penguin was under. It was then that the crime lord realized that all of the henchmen and buyers outside of Thomas were out cold. Broken limbs, torn flesh, and the smell of fresh blood marred this facility now. Even Julius was in bad shape as Cobblepot saw that he had a kunai stabbed into his pelvis that led to him bleeding in places that neither Cobblepot, nor any man in general, even wanted to think about. Penguin gulped in fear from the realization that he only had Thomas left.

"B-But how? When," Penguin fearfully asked. Crow stepped forward as Thomas looked on at what was happening in fear, "From the very instant you looked up at me I put you under my genjutsu. That's why you stopped noticing your bodyguard after a while. With the element of surprise, it made taking these common thugs out all too easy."

"Thomas! You have to help me. Shoot him now!" Penguin ordered but Thomas did not move. It wasn't until Crow addressed him that Thomas finally responded.

"Did you call the police?" Crow asked. Thomas nodded his head, "I did exactly as you asked. They're on their way now."

Penguin turned towards Thomas with a look of both anger and disgust of having realized that Thomas was in on this from the very start, "You! You sold me out?! You're dead. You and your bloody sister! You will get what you got coming!"

"Speaking of getting what people have coming," Itachi used his Rinnegan to lift up the bullet that he was shot with earlier, "I believe this belongs to you. You can have it back now."

Itachi used Almighty Push to shoot the bullet out of his hand and had it hit Penguin in his right leg so that the crime boss fell to the ground screaming. The bullet was still lodged into his leg from not having an exit point, so the pain Penguin felt was even worse than with the kunai. Itachi walked up to him as he got ready to speak, "You threatened Thomas' sister earlier, isn't that right? Something about proving that he was smart. You won't harm her and neither will your men for that matter."

"Yeah, and what's stopping me?" Penguin asked in defiance. Itachi used his Rinnegan to move the bullet while it was still in Penguin's leg to cause excruciating pain. It cut and tore through muscles and ligaments in Penguin's leg to cause the man to cry out in pain. Crow eventually stopped after minutes of torturing the crime lord and having him beg for mercy. He and Thomas started to walk away as they heard sirens blaring in the distance. As they disappeared, Itachi left him with some parting words, "Because if you do, I will retaliate by harming your son, Ethan. Since you're so obsessed with people being smart, have you ever wondered what the inside of your son's head looks like? Touch Thomas' sister and I will bring you Ethan's skull. I'll even cut the crown of his skull open so that you can just how big his brain really is. You can determine whether or not he's smart of dumb for yourself. I hope you choose wisely and make the 'smart' choice. Let's hope we never see each other again."

The hurt and broken crime lord gulped as all of his resolve faltered at the thought of having that happen to his son. And he had no doubt in his mind that The Crow would carry out his threat. The cops came in and arrested everyone soon afterwards. Penguin didn't even resist or say anything foul-mouthed from fear of Crow hearing him and getting to his son as retaliation.

Crow and Thomas were outside at a distance when Crow addressed him, "Thank you for trusting me enough to let me in. I never could have prevented this if you weren't brave enough to do that."

"No, thank you from freeing me from his grip. You could have beaten me up and thrown me in jail when you first caught me out in the streets, but you showed me mercy and gave me a way out instead. Now, thanks to you, Sophia and I may finally be able to live without fear." Thomas responded.

"What will you do next?" Crow asked. Thomas shrugged, "Leave the city. This place is too dangerous. I know you and Batman are helping cleaning it up, but while you were here, someone on the other side of the city was getting mugged or worse. Gotham is a dead place and I can't risk falling under its influence again. I only joined Penguin's gang because he offered to help me pay for Sophia's college. I didn't even know he was a crime lord at the time. By the time I found out, it was too late and I was already in too deep. But you got me out from under and for that I thank you. I will never forget your kindness."

"Thank me by never letting me catch you with a thug like him again. Go live your life and be happy with Sophia." Itachi responded. Thomas went to leave but had one last question, "By the way, were you really serious about what you said about Penguin's son? I know he's a crook himself, but to do all of that to him seems excessive."

"I had to make him fear me more than he hated you. So in a way, yes I was. If he touches your sister, I will show him the inside of Ethan's head, but in a genjutsu. It will have the same effect as the real thing. Besides, I detest unnecessary violence." Itachi revealed.

"I see. Thanks Crow. You're a real hero!" Thomas said before running off. Crow turned to the sky before teleporting away. He wound up traveling to the rooftop across from Carla's home. After Wrath was dealt with, she was able to go back home. And Carson and James returned with her. It was a happy reunion between the three of them. A broken family that had been reunited in a way.

Crow stared at the group. He was happy that they could all be normal for a bit. Itachi heard a whizzing sound and turned to see a batarang thrown his way. Itachi caught it and saw that Batman was the one who had thrown it.

"You're late, Crow." Batman said. Itachi shook his head, "Penguin has been dealt with. Did you take care of Two-Face?"

"Soon. Crow, go to the Cave. I have a mission for the Team." Batman said as he started walking away.

"I take it I don't have the option to say no." Itachi responded.

"Why would you want to? You haven't been on a mission with them since Wrath showed up. I'll have you all briefed on the details soon." Batman said as he grappled away. Itachi shook his head, "I could think of a few reasons why I'd say no. And here I thought I'd spend the day with Carson tomorrow. I guess I'll just have to cancel. She's going to be upset about that, but I guess it can't be helped. My friends need me."

* * *

Itachi left to go to a Zeta-Beam console to be transported to the Cave. On the way there he found Artemis there too and decided to join her. She was talking to herself about being one of a kind when out of nowhere, Itachi dropped behind her. She turned in a panic to strike whoever it was that had snuck up on her, but got put in a joint hold before she could even get a word out.

"You need to practice some more. I didn't even have to try to sneak up on you, Artemis." Itachi warned as he let her go. Artemis turned as saw that it was her friend and gave him a hug before punching him in the arm, "Do you always have to sneak up on people, jeez. What are you doing here?"

"Batman wanted me to go to the Cave. I guess I was lucky to meet up with you on the way there." Itachi replied.

"I hear you and him have been busy with cleaning up Gotham's streets. I can tell tonight is no different with all of that blood on you. I take it hat belongs to the bad guys. Who did you take out this time?" She asked.

"I'm no busier than you and Green Arrow are in Star City. And tonight, I got Penguin." Itachi answered.

"You've heard about me in Star City? What do you think?" She excitedly asked.

"You've gotten better. You'll be a great hero in no time. You just have to work on not letting people sneak up on you is all." Itachi joked with her. She shook her head at him as she laughed at his crude joke, "Oh shut up. Come on, let's go."

They both got Zeta-Beamed to the Cave and were surprised to see Green Arrow and Red Arrow in the Cave. They skeptically looked at each other before being called by Oliver, "Artemis, Itachi, you're just in time. Look who's agreed to join The Team."

Wally celebrated the news, "Finally!"

Itachi could tell that Artemis' mood dropped from hearing the news, "Sure, The Team's needed a real archer."

' _This isn't going to end well,'_ Itachi thought as he and Artemis walked to join the group. It wasn't just Artemis' mood that made him feel that way. It was also the dirty look Roy was giving him for some reason. Itachi could tell that Roy was no fan of his. Perhaps it was all of the blood on his clothes based on how everyone else was looking at him too. He decided to try and put them at ease, "Nobody died."

"That's not what has us worried." Roy replied as he kept mean mugging him. Itachi chose to pay him no mind which really ticked the archer off.

"Okay, people, listen up," Oliver said to try and clear the air. He went over to the monitor to explain what the Team's next mission would be, "The Dynamic Duo's on a case in Gotham, but Batman gave me a heads up. Sportsmaster was spotted coming through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport."

' _I get sent on a mission while Batman and Robin work a case in Gotham. There's got to be an ulterior motive for assigning me here for just one man.'_ Itachi hypothesized.

"He showed up in full costume? Nervy." Zatanna commented.

"No, in street clothes. Facial recognition software picked up the ID. Find out what he's up to." Green arrow ordered.

"All of us?" Conner asked. He was curious about the need for all of them to be here, "This is unnecessary for just a shadow job."

"Perhaps a small squad. Miss Martian's camouflage abilities seem ideal." Red Tornado suggested.

"I thought the sidekicks, sorry, ex-sidekicks could suit up on this. So Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Red Arrow are up on this one." Green Arrow decided.

Though Artemis was disappointed, the others were kind of glad not to be chosen. Conner voiced his pleasure, "Good. Stakeouts make me crazy."

"We could use the night off." M'gann agreed.

Itachi was glad to be left off because it meant that he could spend tomorrow with Carson. But then he remembered Batman's request to join this mission, along with the look of disappointment on Artemis' face, and reluctantly spoke up, "Artemis and I will join this mission too. I have more experience than even the Justice League at conducting covert operations and with M'gann and Robin out, Artemis is the next best pilot of the Bio-Ship. This isn't a request."

Artemis and the others look at Itachi in surprise. He usually was the first one to try and find an excuse to get out of these small types of missions. Artemis was also grateful that he had enough faith in her to ask for her to join over anyone else. Oliver looked towards his fake niece for reassurance, "Artemis, do you want to join this mission?"

"Absolutely." She responded as the small team got ready to go. Itachi hoped that whatever this was really about wouldn't cause some rift in The Team.

The Bio-Ship left out of the Cave as the mission began. Artemis was currently flying to the starting point as the other heroes waited and monitored the surroundings. Itachi was staring out of the window when he noticed Wally turn to speak to Artemis, "Uh, this could wind up being one of those things that sounds better in my head than out loud but…you are a real archer."

Artemis gave him a look of discontent as she felt that this was out of pity. Wally quickly tried to cover himself, "No, I mean, I'm jazzed about Red Arrow. Uh, we go way back, you know. But you, you've made your own place on The Team. You have nothing to prove. Not to me, okay?"

She took his words to heart after that, "Okay."

Wally smiled at her as he turned back to his monitor. She spoke to him again, "And Wally…it sounded fine out loud."

Itachi smiled to himself at the scene. Back in the hanger of the Bio-Ship, Aqualad and Roy spoke in private, "I gather you did not join The Team for the camaraderie."

"And not to please Green Arrow either. There is a mole on your team, Kaldur. You don't want to face it, so I will. And my prime suspects are Artemis and Itachi."

* * *

The group soon landed in New Orleans after a few hours of flight. They currently had eyes on Sportsmaster thanks to Roy being in disguise while on the ground with Artemis and Itachi providing oversight.

"The target's heading north. Pursue, but maintain a discreet distance. And that goes double for you, Artemis. And you too, Crow. After that giant mishap in Gotham, I can tell that subtly is not your style. Sportsmaster has proven to be quite adept at spotting Martian camouflaging when in motion." Roy said as he went to follow Sportsmaster.

Both Itachi and Artemis did not like his tone as he made it a point to specifically call the two of them out. They both ignored his jab and stayed focused on the mission. Aqualad swam in the river for cover as he followed the criminal and Kid Flash rode on a motorcycle on a nearby road. Eventually, Sportsmaster stopped and Roy halted everyone's movements.

"He's stopped. Hold you positions. I'm moving in for a closer look." Roy said as he went on ahead. Itachi could tell that something was on his friend's mind by the look on her face. She could tell by that look that he was asking what was wrong and though she appreciated the gesture, but still didn't feel comfortable enough to reveal the truth to her friend.

So instead, she decided that they were coming off the bench, "I'm putting the Bio-Ship on autopilot. Come on, Itachi. We're heading to the ground. It looks like Mr. Attitude over there needs our help."

The two dropped down and went to join Roy. Before they got close to him, another presence revealed itself, "Hey sis. I see you brought my boyfriend with you. It is so good to see you, handsome. I thought that Wrath had killed you but I am so glad to be proven wrong. You still owe me another dance. And speaking of people owing others, why haven't you revealed who you really are to all your friends, sis?"

"Boyfriend?! You danced with her?! Does Carson know about this?!" She asked accusingly.

"Ignore her and stay focused." Itachi replied with a hint of annoyance from having the memory of dancing with Cheshire brought up again.

"I still haven't heard you deny any of it. We are SO gonna talk about this after the mission is finished." Artemis said as she got ready for combat. Itachi groaned internally as Cheshire enjoyed their banter.

"Carson? You're not stepping out on me, are you? I'm hurt. Now you owe me a kiss," Cheshire Cat dropped down to attack them. Artemis shot an arrow but had it blocked by her sister. Cheshire pulled out a pair of daggers and tried to attack her sister, but Itachi blocked the attack with kunai knives of his own. He parried Cheshire's daggers down as Artemis lunged at her with a kick that knocked her sister back a few feet. Cheshire was impressed.

"Nice move, did Canary teach you that?" Cheshire asked tauntingly. Crow replied to the assassin as Artemis drew her arrow, "No, I taught her that."

"Of course you did. I'd expect nothing less from you, handsome. Oh poor little sister. You still play with kid gloves. I bet you run out of arrows before I run out of sword. Unless you plan on breaking out the pointy ones to use against your own sister." Cheshire taunted. Artemis gave Itachi a look of disappoint as Cheshire revealed that they were sisters, but Itachi stayed focused.

"I already knew that you and her were sisters. I've known for a while now. It changes nothing so stay focused. If we capture her now, we can get intel out of her." Crow said as he got ready to attack. Artemis casted out the disappointment and took aim at her sister, "You are working with Sportsmaster."

"Not my choice and not my call." Cheshire defiantly responded. Crow could sense Artemis' resolve beginning to falter again and decided to act quickly by using his Rinnegan, "Universal Pull!"

Cheshire was lifted off of the ground as an arrow was shot at her. The arrow dispersed into a net that trapped her to a nearby tree as Roy revealed himself. Cheshire than began to flirt with the archer, "Why, Arrow, if you wanted another date you only had to ask. Sorry Crow, I've been seeing other people too since Wrath took you out."

While Itachi was mentally thanking the heavens for hearing that news, Artemis got into even more of a panic, "You two are dating?!"

"What? No!" Roy denied.

"Oh, why deny the attraction. Is it because my other boyfriend is here? The Crow is nothing but a fling. You're the only one for me. After all Arrow, you're here now." Cheshire said. Itachi got a bad feeling about why she was using the specific terminology that she was.

A train suddenly came by and Itachi turned to see that they had lost track of Sportsmaster, _'She was buying him time. She must be in communication with him. That means he knows we're here too.'_

Cheshire cut herself free and drove her sword into the ground, "I care about all three of you. I couldn't bear to hurt any of you…much."

Cheshire lunged forward and did a low sweep kick to knock Artemis to the ground. She then threw smoke bombs at Crow and Roy. Itachi heard the motor of Sportmaster's boat and knew that the criminal was getting away. Itachi knew he had to end this fast, or risk losing Sportsmaster.

Cheshire lunged at Roy through the smoke and tackled him to the ground. She had a dagger to his face as she was straddled on top of him, "So difficult, but if I had to pick one, I guess it's you. Oh, too bad, lover boy."

She then leant down and kissed Roy. Artemis recovered just in time to see it. Cheshire broke the kiss and had a satisfying smile on her face, "At least a kiss is still a kiss."

"And a knee to the face really hurts." She looked up to see Crow painfully knee her off of Roy as she was sent back a few feet and landed in a painful heap. Wally sped towards the group and picked up her sai, "Nice souvenir."

"Artemis, shoot a tracer arrow on Sportsmaster, now!" Roy ordered. Artemis took aim but felt that the criminal was out of range. Roy gave a frustrated look as he did the job instead, "Move!"

Roy then hopped on his own speedboat to go after Sportsmaster. Artemis couldn't believe he'd just leave them like this, "You're abandoning us?"

"I'm prioritizing!" Roy then sped off to catch the criminal. Cheshire recovered in time to taunt the group, "Oh, that's gotta sting. He makes the shot you were afraid to even try."

Itachi had had enough of her taunting his friend and decided to shut her up as he and Artemis reengaged in combat.

While in pursuit of Sportsmaster, Roy quickly thought of a counter strategy, "Aqualad, the target's made me, so I'll take a dive. He'll think that he's in the clear and you can track him from below. We'll be right behind using the tracer."

Sportsmaster threw bombs at Roy and he took the dive like he said he would. Sportsmaster was smarter than that and knew that it shouldn't have been that easy. He stopped the boat to search it and wound up finding the tracer Red Arrow shot onto it. He dropped the tracer, along with some bombs, into the water to halt Aqualad's progress. It worked as the explosion sent the Atlantian to the surface as Sportsmaster got away on his boat.

Roy called out for his friend. Kaldur resurfaced next to him to show him that he was alright. Roy grew frustrated, but Aqualad stayed calm as he radioed for his teammates.

Back on land, Itachi was currently protecting Wally from a volley of shuriken being thrown by Cheshire. He deflected each one as Artemis went in to flank her, "Leave them alone!"

Cheshire quickly countered her sister, disarmed her, and kicked away like it was nothing. Itachi had had enough of this and decided to end this fight as he weaved hand signs for a jutsu, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

He shot a medium sized fireball at her to keep it non-lethal and aimed it at the ground before Cheshire for extra caution, but it did its job as Cheshire was blown backwards by the impact of the blast. Wally and Itachi quickly turned to check on Artemis but she shrugged them off.

"Forget about me! What about…Cheshire?" Unfortunately, her sister used their concern for her to vanish before Itachi could finish her off. Itachi knew she'd do this. It was why he shot the fireball the way he did and held so much back against her. Not only was she Artemis' sister, but she had Cassandra under her care. He couldn't risk killing her before he got information of the girl's whereabouts. There was also the mission he had to focus on too.

"Good work on putting that tracer on her sword. She'll lead us to Sportsmaster for sure, which will give us time to regroup and think of a better strategy." Itachi complimented.

"You saw that?" Artemis asked. Itachi nodded at his friend, "It was what I was waiting for. She'd expect something like that from me, but not from you. She may not know how special you are, but I do. As long as I'm on the field with you, I'll always watch over my comrades."

"You're brilliant, Artemis. I knew you could- wait, there's the guys." Wally said as he heard the speedboat approaching. Another train went by and Itachi signaled her towards its direction. She knew exactly what he was thinking and shot a tracer arrow at it before joining the group. Their team chemistry had really improved.

"So we threw the fight as ordered, after Artemis planted the tracer." Wally explained to Roy and Aqualad.

"Cheshire's heading north." Artemis informed then as she and Itachi joined the group. Roy countered her intel, "Sportsmaster was heading south, kind of like this mission."

"Perhaps he'll double back, or maybe Cheshire will." Itachi suggested.

"Either way, they'll rendezvous, and we'll find them." Wally said to keep the optimism.

"We had better. Sportsmaster acquired an attaché case. We need to learn what it contained. If you had stayed aboard the Bio-Ship-" Aqualad started.

"I saw Cheshire sneaking up on Red Arrow. Itachi and I both decided that it was best to run interference before she got the jump on him." She explained.

"Then you radio a warning." Roy countered.

"And if she found you by hacking our frequency? Because by watching how you fight, she would have easily taken you down." Itachi countered back as Roy growled at him.

"It is true. We have come to rely on M'gann's telepathy over our radios." Aqualad added.

"So let's stop looking to place blame and start looking for Cheshire." Wally said. Artemis was already done with being doubted and gave up the tracking device, "Here, since clearly I can't be trusted. You track her."

Wally snatched the device out of Roy's hand and tried to give it back to Artemis. She rejected the offer, "Its fine. I'll follow in the Bio-Ship."

She walked away as the four of them discussed the plan, "Go, Kid, Arrow and I will return to the river and we will all follow as originally planned."

"I'll go with Artemis in the Bio-Ship." Itachi informed them. After they all dispersed, Itachi caught up with Artemis. She revealed the other tracker she had on her and together the two went to follow it back to its source. He stared at her from behind his mask before speaking, "More than anyone else on The Team, I trust you, Artemis."

"Thanks, Itachi. It means a lot." She responded as they left.

* * *

Sportsmaster made it to a warehouse in New Orleans. Ivo was waiting for him there as Sportsmaster delivered the briefcase he was carrying. Not only was Ivo there, but Klarion, The Brain, and Monsieur Mallah were there as well. They were currently experimenting on a severed tentacle of an ancient creature.

Artemis and Itachi were currently on the rooftop of that warehouse thanks to her tracker. They landed inside and saw a tracker thrown at their feet. It was the same tracker Artemis put on her sword, "I pulled it off of my sword about a minute after you put it there. I thought you'd want it back since it goes so nicely with the one Red Arrow gave you."

She turned and saw the tracer Red Arrow put on her quiver. She looked at Itachi and immediately discovered that he knew Roy had done it, "That was why you said that you trusted me. To spare my feelings. I guess I really do have still to work on people sneaking up on me…"

"I'm sorry." Itachi said. He didn't want his friend to feel dejected just because someone was petty and distrustful of her. It's why he chose not to tell her. Cheshire saw the scene and was amused by it, "Someone on your team doesn't trust you."

She sang as she pulled a video pad revealing Red Arrow sneaking up on the warehouse. She also revealed that Sportsmaster knew of his location and was ready to surprise attack him from the roof. Itachi knew he had no choice after that, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

He shot a fireball at the warehouse door to blast Red Arrow away before Sportsmaster could start his attack. It was just in time too because Sportsmaster had just thrown his javelin at Roy. The criminal leapt from the rooftop to attack the surprised Roy as Itachi and Artemis fought Cheshire inside.

Cheshire quickly subdued Artemis with a few kicks and got ready to stab her with her sword. Before she could though, Itachi saved his friend by using his Rinnegan to use Almighty Push to throw Cheshire off of Artemis. Roy quickly radioed for Kid Flash and Aqualad to rendezvous at his location to help combat the assassins.

The three of them all got back to back as they fought to hold off the pair of criminals, "So I see the both of you are allergic to radioing a warning. That blast could have killed me."

"Oh no, Artemis to Arrow, look out." Artemis dryly responded as Itachi tried to figure out a way out of this situation. Sportsmaster charged at Red Arrow and knocked him back with his mace. Itachi provided him cover by throwing a few shuriken at the assassin. Sportsmaster countered those but got struck from behind by Roy thanks to the distraction.

Cheshire was quickly overwhelming Artemis in hand-to-hand combat and kicked her against a wall. Cheshire pulled out a dagger and got ready to stab her sister, only for Crow to come swooping in and throw her hard against a wall. Wally sprinted to Artemis to help her up as Itachi stayed on Cheshire.

"Aqualad and I found a tracer on a caboose. And I don't mean Cheshire's." Wally informed her.

"Yeah, Itachi and I figured that would happen." Artemis replied. Wally looked at her in confusion, "Wait, then how did you, Crow, and Red end up here?"

"Not now!" Crow shouted as he caught a punch from Artemis' sister. He then used the punch to judo-flip Cheshire, who used the opportunity to tackle Kid Flash when he wasn't looking. Wally punched Cheshire and told Itachi and Artemis to investigate that red light in the other room as he held off Cheshire.

They obliged and went towards where that room was to stop whatever was going on in there. Itachi kicked the door open as Artemis aimed a lethal arrow at all of the villains, "Freeze!"

"Don't be absurd. With what we've created tonight, I could-" Ivo started but Klarion didn't let him finish, "Don't waste such power on a little girl and some freak with weird eyes. Let's just do as she says, freeze!"

Before the heroes knew what happened, all of the villains had been turned to ice thanks to Klarion's magic. Itachi assumed it was some type of teleportation and cursed his luck for not reacting fast enough as the ice broke apart. He had let them get away before they could answer him about what exactly this Light organization was.

Outside of the room, Roy was struggling with Sportsmaster. Just as Roy got some sort of advantage, Sportsmaster, along with Cheshire, had turned into ice and broken apart too. Their escape spelled the end of it. The mission ended in failure.

* * *

The heroes returned to Mount Justice and went back in The Cave. The group called Red Tornado and the others to relay the bad news, "I'll be clear. We failed. Though the Injustice League is in custody, their allies still scheme. And we have learned nothing of their plans."

Red Arrow turned to Aqualad after he was done speaking, "Gee, I wonder why."

Artemis had had enough of Roy's backtalk, "Hey! Who found out was working with Brain, Klarion, and Ivo? Itachi and I, that's who!"

"Yeah, great intel. Except for the fact that Ivo's been in Belle Reeve the whole time. And the guards just checked. It's the real Ivo, not some robot." Roy angrily countered.

Itachi was about to speak for his friend's behalf, but Wally beat him to it, "You know what, I'm getting tired of you dumping on her."

Roy responded by showing the tracer. Wally didn't know, or care, what that meant, "Her tracer, so what? Cheshire ditched it."

"No, Artemis and Crow here decided to ditch that to send us on a wild-goose chase. They put this one on Cheshire." Roy responded as he revealed the second tracer.

Wally turned to hear it from Artemis, "Are you so freaked out about Arrow joining The Team that you tried to take down the bad guy solo? And you Itachi, you went along with this? Please, tell me I'm wrong."

She only sighed in disappointment. Itachi wished this had ended better for her as he wanted her to succeed. But he knew that she had to go through growing pains to truly learn her self-worth. It's why he went along with it. This failed mission will help her to grow in the end. Wally threw the sai down on the ground in anger, disappointment and hurt, "Wow, nice going. All you proved is that you're insecure and selfish. Keep the sai. This is tracer is the right souvenir for the mission."

"So how will the two of you betray us next time?" Roy accused. Itachi, this time, did respond to him, "I've had enough of your false accusations of us. Unless you provide irrefutable proof that Artemis and I are traitors, then back off. Mistakes aren't betrayals, if they were, then everyone in this room would be a traitor, including you because you sure made your fair share of them on the mission tonight. It's over, let it go." Itachi warned Roy who chose not to back down.

Aqualad decided to defuse the situation before Roy said something to Itachi that he would forever regret, "Enough, Roy. Get some sleep, all of you. I must report to Batman."

Everyone dispersed, but Roy went to Artemis before leaving. He whispered, "You're not who you say you are. The Crow can't protect you forever. This isn't over between the three of us, not by a longshot."

Itachi saw this and thought back to something. He was getting an idea of why Batman wanted him to go on this mission, especially when he figured that Batman suspected that someone was a mole on The Team. And by how Roy was acting tonight, it seemed that he and Artemis were the two prime suspects. But he knew that couldn't be everything.

' _My father was the head of the village police force. He'd come home and advise me on certain situations since I was next in line to take over after father retired. In cases where there were multiple suspects in a mystery case, father used to always say that he'd get them all in a room and let them interact with each other uninhibited. He usually found that it was the suspect that makes the first and loudest accusation about the others that usually had the most to hide. Artemis and I never once accused anyone of being a mole, but Roy sure did. He wasted no time in showing his distrust of us and is trying to spread it to the others…that's it! This mission was never designed to be a success. Batman would have seen the festering distrust Roy had for Artemis and myself and never would have allowed us on the same mission if he wanted it to succeed. Batman just wanted all of the prime suspects in a room together to watch what happens. He doesn't just suspect Artemis and I, he also had doubts on Roy as well and wanted me to know that. He wants me to doubt Roy too, and now I do. The question now is what I do about it. I see, so this is why people call you the world's greatest detective.'_ Itachi thought as he Zeta-Beamed back to Gotham.

* * *

As Artemis got a chilling reunion with her father about possibly switching side, Itachi got the opposite when he reunited with Ms. Yumi. She hugged him and happily led him inside. They ate dinner as he discussed what had happened in the mission. She shook her head with sadness of her adopted son's problems.

"I wish things were better between you and your friends, Itachi." She said.

"They will be. My friends tend to come through when needed most." Itachi assured her.

"That's good. Speaking of coming through when needed, are you still going to be spending the day with Carson tomorrow? You did promise her." Yumi reminded.

"I know, I know. I wish I could, but with what just happened on the last mission, it is painfully clear that I need to start going on more missions with my friends until this threat is dealt with. This world, it's like I live on a plant of glass. I'm always trying to avoid breaking everything. That's the thing with glass, even when you try your hardest to avoid it, it can always end up cutting you. Carson will just have to be one of those cuts for now." Itachi sadly admitted.

"That girl loves you, Itachi. Don't waste that." Yumi responded.

"I don't doubt that. But my friends need me more than Carson does. I owe it to them. After this is all done, then I'll give Carson the attention she deserves…and you. You have been like a mother to me, I hope after this is all over I can finally be like a son to you." Itachi promised.

"You already have. But even so, I hope you keep that promise in the end. So what's your next move?" Yumi asked.

"I still haven't found Jason Todd or Cassandra and have no leads on where to look. I took out Penguin so Gotham should be safer with him behind bars. There ae several mysteries going on, but for now all I can do is focus on one at a time. So I guess my next move…is to find and crush The Light; specifically The Masked Stranger. I just need to find out who she is." Itachi answered as Ms. Yumi smiled.

"I believe that is the correct choice, my son. I believe the answers to all of your questions will reveal themselves soon enough. I know you. Even after seeing what some of those villains are capable of, you still want to take them on. I know in my heart of hearts that you will save everyone, Itachi. I've seen it in you ever since I was a young woman who knew nothing at all. You won't let us down." Yumi responded faithfully.

"I won't. I will save everyone." Itachi said with conviction.

* * *

That's it for this chapter! There was a lot less of the major spectacle of the previous chapters and a lot more of story progression here. I had to bring things down to Earth in this chapter. There are only three episodes left of the first season I have to write on so about a handful of chapters left. We truly are in the final arc. Thanks again for all of the love of last chapter! You guys rock! If you haven't already, don't forget to favorite, follow, review, or PM me. I always enjoy reading your opinions. I hope to get another chapter out within a few weeks. Till next time guys and gals!


	37. Usual Suspects

**Anime hotty lover.18 – I hope this chapter makes up for Itachi's shortcomings last chapter. He does care about her. He just has a funny way of showing it. Their relationship dynamic is so fun to write.**

 **Andresskorskiruiz – I'm glad you liked it!**

 **Brave2000 – I know, I know. But I can't have him breaking all of the villains. I feel like I let him loose a little bit more in this chapter.**

 **Rio Skyron – Here's how Itachi is a suspect; Artemis is the one who brought him on and got him to join The Team. If they suspect Artemis of being a mole, then why wouldn't they suspect the friend she brought with her to The Team? It's more of a guilty by association situation.**

 **1968 – Things will heat up again this chapter for sure. The plot will explain itself fairly quickly.**

 **Keybladelight – I'm definitely continuing the story. You're just gonna have to wait and see if your theory is correct or not.**

 **Lachyfrost – There's nothing wrong with a promise, mate. We all know Itachi is a goody guy, but Itachi has to realize that as well.**

 **Theronjohn325 – Yeah, lol, not my best work. Thanks for pointing that out though. I definitely meant roundhouse kick. I'm defiantly gonna go through the earlier chapter and fix my many mistakes for the sake of future readers. I don't want to leave a bad first impression.**

 **AUfan62 – I'm glad you enjoyed the flashbacks. I wanted to do Itachi's past justice.**

* * *

Itachi currently had his back against the wall, all avenues of escape were blocked off, and he was facing one of the biggest conflicts if his life. But what could possibly force Itachi into the predicament that he was currently in? Did Penguin suddenly break out and decide to pick a grudge fight with him? Maybe Riddle and he were having a war of the minds as the two geniuses clash for the first time. Perhaps it could be that Bane was sent to kill him by the League of Assassins. Or maybe Joker decided to have a reunion with his soulmate. No, none of these are what had Itachi pinned.

It was his pissed off lover, Carson Collins, who had the former rogue shinobi wondering what to do next as she had him against the wall with a serious look on her face and a raised brow as if Itachi was supposed to know why this was happening. She even used both of her arms to block his path of escape. Sure, he easily could have gotten out of the situation without even breaking a sweat, but he knew that he must have done something wrong to warrant this behavior from her.

She tapped her foot impatiently before speaking, "You really don't know what you did to get here, don't you?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be here. I'd be out front selling masks like how my job dictates I do. Yours too." Itachi dryly responded which got Carson even more annoyed.

"Think back, boy genius. I'm sure it'll hit you eventually." Carson responded. Itachi thought back and eventually figured why she was upset, "The dates…"

"Yes! The dates! You have canceled on our last three dates! The last one, you chose ten minutes prior to the date to inform me that you had some mission to go on. You have to do better, Itachi." Carson complained.

"Killer Croc was threatening to eat a school full of children. I had to get involved. Now the children are safe and Killer Croc has been spending all of his time since being locked away in Arkham regrowing all of the limbs I severed. It couldn't be helped." Itachi responded seriously.

Carson shook her head and let out a sigh of exasperation. She smiled to herself after a few minutes as Itachi wondered where this was going. She looked at him with a warm smile, "Oh, you dork. I know it's your job to help save people. Just don't forget about me. I want you to pay attention to me too…"

"I'm always paying attention to you. That's why we're going to the Botanical Gardens this weekend. Are we done here?" Itachi asked. Carson was excited by this news because it was always her who had to plan out their dates because Itachi normally was indifferent about it. She figured he must really be sorry if he was willing to go as far as to plan out a date over a bust of some crime lord in Gotham.

"Not yet. There are still two more things I have to get through." Carson said mysteriously. Itachi didn't know where she was going with this, "And they are?"

"One is this," Carson suddenly closed the space between the two and kissed Itachi. It was innocent at first, but she started pouring more passion into it after a while. Itachi could feel her body press against him as the kiss got more and more intense. Before things went too far though, Itachi gently broke the kiss as Carson was a little breathless. He could see the desire in her eyes. Itachi was completely shocked by the move, but he did have to admit to liking the kiss.

"I wanted to kiss you since I didn't get the chance because of our canceled date. You're getting more comfortable with this. Maybe you're willing to put a title on us finally?" Carson suggestively asked.

"One day at a time." Itachi responded as he heard the front door open. It meant that customers were inside, "Let's go. Ms. Yumi may be out front but I don't want her having to deal with customers when she has two able bodies working for her."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess making out on the job isn't very professional or productive." Carson said with a hint of disappointment.

Itachi nodded his head before heading to the front. Carson shook her head at him before following him out, _'Maybe if you let me kiss you more often I wouldn't have to do it in such a forceful manner even though we both know you like it. I guess I understand his hesitation. I would be only his second girlfriend ever. But that leads to my second gripe. I have to ask him something serious that could change how we progress towards our future together.'_

* * *

Ms. Yumi was currently out front in her store as her two employees were 'talking'. She knew that it was more than that based on their relationship, but decided to let young love blossom as it should. She considered Itachi to be like a son and thought what mother could possible hinder their son from finding true love.

' _Probably one that has already lost a son in the name of love.'_ She thought sadly. Ayumi rarely thought back to her previous life before coming to this world. But the closer she got to Itachi, the more it seemed to weigh on her just how much time had passed and everything she sacrificed to get to this point.

She was interrupted in her thoughts when the front door rang signaling that customers were inside. She looked up to see two strong, handsome young men walk into her store. The man with the glasses gave her a friendly smile before he introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Clark and this here is Bruce. Nice to meet you."

"It is nice to meet you young gentlemen as well. Welcome to the Chinatown Mask Shop. Would you like to purchase a mask?" Ms. Yumi kindly asked.

Bruce smiled as he politely declined, "Sorry, already have one that I'm keen to. We actually came here to speak to one of your employees. Itachi is his name."

"Well, what business do you have with Itachi?" Ayumi asked with curiosity.

"We are here to let him know the good news that he has been accepted into the apprenticeship program he applied for. Is he in right now?" Bruce asked.

"Apprenticeship program? I never knew he applied for such a thing." Ayumi responded. Before either of the undercover heroes could make up another lie on the sly, Itachi and Carson walked in. If Itachi was shocked to see them, he didn't let it show. He stayed calm and unreadable like always.

"What are you doing here?" Itachi asked. Carson shook her head at his bluntness, "Didn't your mother teach you any manners? They are customers. How about you greet them with a hello and ask about their day."

Itachi had to try his hardest not to respond not only to her, but to the stifled laughers of Clark and Ms. Yumi, and the smug smile of Bruce as well. Itachi ignored them as he responded for appearance's sake, "Hello, how is your day going?"

"Oh, this is too good." Bruce responded. Clark burst out laughing as Itachi stood there with a blank look on his face and a lightly clenched jaw. He was definitely not amused by any of this. Clark could tell Itachi didn't find this situation as funny as they did and decided to get to the reason of their trip, "You've been accepted into the apprenticeship program that you interviewed for. I just wanted to deliver the news personally and say that I look forward to working with you."

"No thanks." Itachi responded. He knew what this 'apprenticeship' really was about. They came to let him know that he had been accepted into the Justice League. Itachi had no interest in joining them though. Mostly, because he knew that Roy Harper would also be joining the League. Ever since that mission where Batman tipped him off about his suspicions of Harper, Itachi had been wary of the archer. He decided the best course of action would be to watch from afar. In the end, Itachi ultimately preferred the comfort of his friends over that of the League.

"Any particular reason why?" Clark asked with disappointment in his voice.

"No reason in particular. You're free to go if you're not here to purchase a mask." Itachi abruptly responded.

Bruce smiled at his fellow vigilante. He knew that Itachi was playing it close to the vest and respected his decision, "I'm sorry to hear that. Well, the offer still stands should you choose to change your mind."

"I won't." Itachi responded. Clark sighed and took out his wallet. He figured he might as well buy a mask as a way to make up for wasting the store owner's time. Ayumi went to the back and got him a dog mask. He immediately liked it since it reminded him of the dog he owned while growing up on the Kent Farm. Ayumi rung him up and bagged the mask for Clark. Bruce shook his head at how childish his companion could be at times.

"Thank you and come again! It is always great to hear from Itachi's associates. I consider him to be like a son so it was warming to see that he is making such a good impression on people. It makes me so proud of him." Ayumi said to them as Bruce and Clark got ready to leave.

"No, the pleasure is ours for meeting you. And you must be Carson. Itachi tells us so much about you. I think he's quite smitten with you. Do try to help improve his manners please." Bruce said teasingly. Carson had a look of astonishment as she realized something important about one of the customer's identities.

"I thought I recognized you! You're the Bruce Wayne! Y-You're a billionaire! How do you know Itachi?" Carson asked as Clark chuckled.

"Through a friend." Bruce vaguely answered.

"Itachi, how come you never told me that you knew the most powerful man in the city?" Carson questioned.

"I didn't feel it was that important." Itachi responded. Ms. Yumi smiled at her ward before saying her final goodbye to her customers, "Well, it was nice having you in our shop. I learned quite a lot. I hope fate makes our paths cross again."

"I best be on my way. I have an appointment to go to that I cannot miss." Clark said.

"Do hurry and try not to miss it. The thing with appointments is timing. You miss one step and it throws the whole plan off. I do hope to see you all soon." Ayumi kindly said.

"We will. I have to get a mask for my girlfriend that matches mine." Clark said as he motioned for Bruce and him to leave. They walked out the door as the other three watched them leave. Carson and Ayumi were talking about how cool it was that Itachi knew Bruce Wayne, but Itachi had tuned them out. Itachi had a lot to think about with this chance encounter and knowing that the League had accepted him.

Carson saw that her lover was deep in thought and decided to take hold of his hand. Their fingers intertwined together as she looked up at him with a warm smile, "Whatever is on your mind, don't let it ruin the happiness that you've worked so hard to get."

She gave him one last kiss on the cheek before going to the back to count their stock. After she left, Ayumi walked up to Itachi as it was clear something was bothering him. She leaned her head on his shoulder like any mother would and gave him the support she felt he needed. It was moments like this that made Itachi feel the most human. She made him feel like he had a mother again.

* * *

Several days after that, Itachi found himself with his teammates in the Hall of Justice. They were there to watch the inaugural ceremony for the newly appointed members of the Justice League. They were also there to greet the newest member The Team, Raquel, aka Rocket.

They all watched as the ceremony began with Superman making his speech. It was important because it could another step towards regaining the trust the League lost after E-Day, "The Justice League was formed for two reasons. First, it was an acknowledgment that no single individual, no matter how powerful, can solve the all of the world's problems alone. And second, to uphold the values of truth, liberty, and justice. That last one's even in the name. These five heroes have sworn to uphold those values."

The five heroes being inducted were Doctor Fate, Icon, The Atom, Plastic Man, and Red Arrow. The entire Justice League had shown up to the occasion to celebrate the new members. Another bit of good news was that the League had allowed Billy to stay on as Captain Marvel. There was only one thing that brought the mood of The Team down.

"I still can't believe you turned them down, Itachi. It's the Justice League! Who turns them down?!" Wally asked.

"I do." Itachi responded as if it wasn't a big deal. When The Team found out he turned them down they all wanted to know why, but Itachi had been mum on it ever since they first asked. It was mostly Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash who were most curious. The others were just glad to keep their friend on The Team with them.

"Who cares? The important thing is that the family is still together." Artemis added. Speaking of family, Zatanna had to sadly watch on as the spirit that had possession of her father's body got accepted into the League. Robin saw how sad she looked and put a hand on her shoulder in support. Someone else had grievances about who was on stage too.

"You know, I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place. I should be outside celebrating with him, not hidden away in here like a child." Rocket complained.

"Welcome to our world." Kaldur responded with an understanding smile. She smiled back at him and commented on here might be a few upsides to being stuck down here.

They saw Green Arrow shake Red Arrow's hand and welcome him into the League personally. While Itachi and Artemis couldn't care less about the scene, Robin, Kaldur, and Wally all were ecstatic for him.

"Way to go, Roy!" Wally shouted at the screen.

"At last, he has his wish." Kaldur added.

"The first of us to make it. No one will call him a sidekick anymore." Robin proudly said.

Rocket was confused by their excitement, "Wait. Since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration. And besides, Purple Eye over there didn't have a problem rejecting the League. And he has more respect from the League than any one of us."

Itachi decided to ignore her jab at his eye as he eyed the League on the screen. At first, Raquel thought she really offended him and got scared for a second. It wasn't until M'gann told her that Itachi is usually distant towards people that she began to calm down. She had heard of some of the things Itachi would do to people like putting them into a nightmare world to suffer and wanted no parts of it.

"Don't worry about him. He'll warm up to you eventually. You should have seen when we all first met, I swear the guy…" Robin couldn't finish his thought as his watch began to ring. That signaled to everyone that a mission was to begin.

* * *

They all got dressed and got into M'gann's Bioship to head towards the mission. After hours of flight, The Team found themselves in the Smokey Mountains. The reason for the sudden alert was because Robin had a ping go off on a facial recognition scan of Cheshire Cat.

"Are you sure it's her? I mean, are you absolutely positive?" Artemis nervously questioned.

"See for yourself," Robin showed the security footage of the assassin boarding a plane, "Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen. But you and Itachi have both seen her without her mask. What do you think?"

"It's Jade…Cheshire…"Artemis confirmed.

"Agreed, but that's not important. What she knows and what she is carrying is what's most important. That's the case from back in New Orleans. The one we let slip away. I don't intend on letting that happen again. There also something else that she has that I want." Crow explained.

"Okay, I'm guessing from the mug shot that this Cheshire is the bad guy, but what's so important about that case?" Rocket inquired.

"Remember the Injustice League?" Robin asked.

"And their giant evil plants? Uh, yeah." Rocket answered.

"The Team and the League put them in prison, but their allies still scheme. And whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans." Aqualad explained.

"We had a chance to grab it in New Orleans but a certain pair screwed up." Wally harshly said as he glared at Artemis and Itachi.

"It's in the past, so drop it. We don't need to bring up old wounds right before a mission." Itachi corrected much to Artemis's relief.

"Of course you're on her side…" Wally muttered to himself. Itachi ignored his comment as he activated his Sharingan.

"Approaching Cheshire's jet." M'gann and the others were shocked to see that the jet had crashed and seemed to be attacked. Itachi stayed focus despite the scene, "There seems to be no survivors, but be careful just in case. This is the perfect scenery to spring a trap in."

They went on foot to investigate the scene, hoping to find any clues on who might have done this and where they might have been heading to. Wally wondered why Homeland Security wasn't all over this, but Robin explained how Cheshire being identified was a League alert. The authorities never picked it up and her jet didn't follow the flight plan. It literally flew under the radar. Good thing for them, the Watchtower auto-tracked the jet and recorded the crash.

"Why isn't the League here then?" Rocket asked.

"Because our Boy Wonder has some mighty hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first." Zatanna explained.

"And because of Cheshire and that case represent our unfinished business." Aqualad added.

"This is wrong," Itachi commented as he drew a kunai out. Everyone turned to him to see why he was on the defensive. M'gann spoke first, "What's wrong?"

"A plane fell from the sky and crashed into a mountain. But I have yet to see a single body here." Itachi replied.

"Here's one." They all looked to see Cheshire looking down at them from a mountain cliff, "And it is stunning. Wouldn't you say, handsome?"

Itachi was about to attack her when he heard someone else speak from the distance. He saw that armored men were around the entire mountain top, along with Riddler, Shimmer, and Mammoth.

"I am flora, not fauna. I am foliage, not trees. What am I?" Riddler asked as The Team now had to solve his pointless riddle. He snapped his fingers and pylons rose up from the snow and started emitting a dome like prison that had the heroes trapped. Riddler also insisted that they try to solve his riddle, "Hey, come on, you can get this. I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I…"

"Ambush" Crow answered as her tried to figure a way out of this mess.

"Didn't you think we'd be tipped that you were on Cheshire's trail? We're tired of your interference, kiddies. This is the end game. Ordered from above and executed by their master strategist, me." Riddler gloated.

" **Miss Martian, is everyone linked?"** Itachi mentally asked.

" **Yes."** She responded.

" **Go."** Aqualad ordered. The Team dispersed to apprehend all of the gathered villains.

" **Ekahs siht ebolgwons!"** Zatanna casted a spell that caused a blizzard inside of the dome as the others used it for cover to sneak up on mercenaries. Itachi shot a fireball at a group of them to knock them all away. One came at him with an electric staff, but Itachi easily subdued him via an ax kick and took his staff. Itachi found one of the pylons and threw his staff at it. He used Almighty Push to enhance the power behind the throw and as a result, the staff easily destroyed the targeted pylon. As easy as taking that lone pylon was, Itachi knew that he needed help in order to get the others.

" **Superboy, help me take out the pylons!"** Itachi requested as he got done using his Timeshadow to reverse time so that a mercenary that he had just took down was brought back to his feet to take an energy blast that was intended for Itachi.

"Give me a second!" Conner said as he went for cover. He took out his container that held his Shields and noticed that it was his last one. He put it on and used its power to help tip the scales. As that was going on, Artemis and Cheshire were fighting amongst each other. Artemis used her arrows while Cheshire used her dual katanas. Cheshire taunted her sister on how it was like old times when their father used to pit them against each other as children.

The rest of The Team were all trying to hold their own, but the sheer numbers of the enemy made it hard. Rocket was blasted with an energy blast from behind and knock out of the sky. Itachi saw this and immediately retaliated by using his Universal Pull to drag the mercenary down to him. Itachi summoned the skeletal fist of his Susanoo and used it to crush the mercenary down to the ground. Even with the snow cushioning his fall, Itachi could still hear the sounds of that man's bones being broken.

Aqualad went to help Rocket as she was still being affected by the energy blast. Just after he helped her though, he was attacked from behind by another mercenary who used his weapons to shift the earth so that Aqualad would sink into the ground. Itachi threw a kunai that had a paperbomb wrapped around it at the assailant. It exploded and sent the man airborne where Miss Martian was waiting for him. She used telekinesis to lift a giant rock and throw it at the man. It knocked him out of the sky and into unconsciousness.

Superboy landed next to a pylon and used his heat vision to melt it down. Right after accomplishing this, Mammoth attacked him from behind and knocked him across the field. Itachi was about to help Superboy out, expect he saw him fly and knock Mammoth out of the sky, which shouldn't be possible since Conner couldn't fly last time Itachi checked.

" **How are you flying?"** Itachi asked. He was ignored by Conner, whom decided to pummel Mammoth. He threw the villain into the shield and watched him ricochet painfully onto the ground. Superboy flew at him and used his heat vision to blast the villain until he got close enough to unleash a barrage of powerful punches towards him. The result of this was that pieces of the mountain fell as debris unto the unsuspecting people down below.

Itachi saw some of the debris heading towards Artemis and her sister and used his Almighty Push to push Cheshire into Artemis and save them both. Before Artemis could ask why or say thank you to her sister, Cheshire bounced to her feet after revealing that despite being on opposite sides that they were still sisters and she had no desire to see Artemis dead. She also told Artemis to give Itachi a kiss of thanks for her next time.

Itachi and Robin both had eyes on Riddler and Shimmer and threw smoke bombs at them. Once the smoke was dense enough, Robin threw a pair of shuriken that wrapped around Shimmer's body and trapped her arms in a bind. Itachi came up from behind her and suplexed her into a wall behind them to knock her out.

Riddler tried running away, but Zatanna got to him with one of her spells, "Tekcajtiarts!"

A long binding wrapped around Riddler as the man began to panic, "No, no! I am not the straightjacket type. I am strictly Belle Reve, not Arkham."

Itachi walked up to him as he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, "I wonder what you're afraid of, Riddler."

Itachi put the man under a genjutsu and in seconds, Riddle fell to the ground screaming in terror. Itachi shook his head while Zatanna had the wraps gag him to stop the screaming. Robin gave Itachi a curious look as they started walking away, "Geez, what's he so scared of?"

"Two things: having his genius eclipsed by another and being punched in the face really hard." Itachi answered.

"Wow, that's it? That's…kinda lame." Robin commented.

"Aren't you scared of-" Robin cut off Itachi before he could finish the sentence, "Okay, okay! Not in front of Zatanna."

Rocket flew up to join the trio, "Is it always like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Hguone htiw eht ebolgwons." The snow stopped as all of the villains had been apprehended.

The Team made sure to alert the proper authorities so that the villains could all be transported to prison and decided to head back to The Cave where they knew a reprimand was waiting for them. That didn't matter to them because they were all happy to have another mission completed, all except one. Despite all of the joy of everyone else on The Team, Itachi was deathly silent.

Artemis knew that whenever Itachi got like this it was because he just got some dangerous intel about something very vital was debating whether or not to share it with the others. Too bad for Itachi, when they all got back Artemis was determined to force the information out of Itachi if it came to it.

* * *

"Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives. And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons, proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity. Well done." Batman said with a smile. The Team could believe their ears. The Batman had actually complimented them.

"And then there's this. Biotechnology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry." Batman said as he examined the specimen.

"Though I am unfamiliar with this species, the bio-component is clearly not of Earth." Icon said as he put the specimen back into the case.

"We'll take it to the Watchtower for further study." Batman said as he left to the Zeta-Beam. Icon stopped her uncle before he left out to say her congratulations, "Congratulations on the League thing. Sorry I skipped out,"

"Yes, well, we both seem to have found teams to call our home now." Icon responded. Canary told him that they should go so that they don't miss the League's private induction party. She then turned to address Itachi, "It's still not too late. You can still join the League too, Itachi. We want you."

"My answer is still no." Itachi abruptly said. Canary looked down in disappointment before teleporting with Icon to the Watchtower.

After the pair of heroes left, Itachi addressed The Team, "We were set up. Cheshire and Riddler were tipped about our pursuit and ready for us with a trap."

"Not you too with the mole thing again." Artemis said in frustration. She guessed this was why Itachi was so silent on the way back. Rocket was surprised that this was the first time she was hearing about this mole situation.

"Mole thing? Again?" She definitely wanted answered. Wally explained the situation to her, "We had intel that there was a traitor on The Team."

"Mainly Artemis, M'gann, Itachi, or myself." Conner angrily elaborated.

' _And Red Arrow.'_ Itachi made sure to omit the suspicions of the fifth suspect. Not that he didn't trust his friends, but sometimes he knew that personal relationships tend to blur the line of harsh reality.

"It is more complicated than that. But your recent behavior does concern me. Your attack on Mammoth would have gotten Artemis killed if Itachi wasn't there to save her." Aqualad reprimanded.

Conner didn't have a chance to respond before a high pitched sound mentally rang through his head, meaning that his father, Lex Luthor, was trying to get in contact with him, _'Superboy, I believe you used up the last of your shields. I have more. Meet me outside of Prisca.'_

They all were waiting for Superboy to respond when he turned to them with a frustrated look on his face, "There's something I need to do."

* * *

Superboy made his way to Santa Prisca to meet up with Lex Luther. When he got to the location he was greeted by not only Lex, but a few of his friends as well, "Welcome Superboy. I'd like to introduce you to my associate, Queen Bee. I believe you know everyone else; Sportsmaster, Mercy, Blockbuster and our new friend, Bane, who's allowed us use of his island in exchange for certain…considerations."

Conner was starting to put two and two together about what was really going on, "So the Injustice League was just a distraction. You two have been behind everything from the start."

"That is a flattering notion, son. But we have many friends. We cannot take all of the credit for this." Lex responded as a helicopter began to descend onto the island.

"Is this one of your friends now?" Conner asked.

"No, my boy. One of yours." Lex answered as the door to the helicopter opened to reveal Artemis and Cheshire inside. Artemis gasped when she saw that Conner was there too.

"Artemis?" Conner said with shock. Artemis walked over to stand by Sportsmaster and Cheshire, "The hero thing wasn't working out. You get how it is over there, no trust. This is where I belong."

"It's a fast growing club." Queen Bee said as the Bioship flew above the island. And from it, M'gann dropped down to join the scene. She also gasped when she saw that not only was her friend in Artemis there, but her boyfriend in Conner was too.

"Why are they here? You promised." M'gann nervously said. Queen Bee didn't have time for her childish insecurities, "I kept your secret and your promise. Now, you keep yours."

"Give me more Shields and I'm in too." Conner said with determination. Lex walked up to him and give him a stern glance before smugly smiling, "My boy. You're a terrible liar. Red Sun."

Conner suddenly went blank and stood there obediently in front of Lex. M'gann looked down sadly as Artemis stepped up to take charge, "What do you want us to do?"

Sportsmaster signaled for Artemis and M'gann to follow him towards the mission. M'gann asked what would happen to Superboy. Queen Bee looked down at her with a vile smile, "He'll be fine. He simply requires a few…adjustments."

Superboy stood timid as he remembered what transpired after his confession to his friends.

* * *

 _(A few hours earlier)_

" _There's something I need to do. Something I need to tell you. Last month, right after Wrath killed Itachi, I went back to Cadmus and found a few things out. When I was cloned, only half of the DNA was Superman's. The other half was human. That's why I don't have…will never have full Kryptonian powers." Conner revealed._

" _You seemed to have them earlier when you were busy caving Mammoth into that mountain." Robin joked._

 _Conner rolled up his sleeve, "I've been using these. They're called Shields. They suppress my human DNA. I get the flight, the heat vision, but I think I also get really angry when I use them too. More than usual. I'm sorry."_

" _Where did you get those?" Itachi asked wanting to know who was responsible for this and to also confirm a theory he was developing._

" _From my human father, Lex Luthor." Conner revealed. Most of them were shocked by the reveal. Only Itachi saw it coming, 'The intel checks out so far.'_

" _He's summoned me to Santa Prisca."_

* * *

Lex ordered Blockbuster to take Conner with them. Artemis reacted fast and shot an arrow at the villain before any of her family members could react. She knew that she couldn't be afraid anymore or else it would cost her dearly. She, too, thought back to the confession she made about her origins to her friends.

* * *

 _(A few hours earlier)_

" _Ahh, listen. Superboy isn't the only one suffering from bad DNA," She walked over to the monitor to bring up images of Huntress, Sportsmaster, and Cheshire, "My mother is Huntress, an former con. The rest of my family isn't even at the former stage. My dad's Sportsmaster. And he's sending my sister, Cheshire, to fly me to Santa Prisca, too."_

" _That's why-" Kid Flash started. Artemis knew what he was about to say, "Yeah. I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out."_

" _I knew about Artemis. It's why I decided to help her. I know a thing about a child wanting to separate themselves from the sins of their family." Itachi revealed. Artemis's reveal also confirmed another part of his theory as well._

" _I knew too," Robin revealed. They all looked at him in shock. Though Itachi had his hunches, he could never confirm whether or not Robin actually knew about Artemis, "Hey, I'm a detective. But it never mattered. Just like with Itachi, you are not your family. You are one of us."_

 _She smiled knowing that she had the support of her friends._

* * *

Before Blockbuster could get a hold of Superboy he got an arrow to the chest that trapped him in clay to restrict his movements. Artemis then turned her bow towards her family, "Sorry, dad, I wanted to play you like how you tried to play me but I can't let them mess with Superboy's head."

" **M'gann, be a dear and take Artemis down."** Queen Bee ordered. M'gann did what she was told and used her powers on Artemis to lift her up. She also had a confession back at The Cave.

* * *

 _(A few hours earlier)_

" _So, uh, who's next?" Wally joked. He didn't really expect for M'gann to be the one to confess next, "I am."_

" _I swear I was kidding." Wally responded as he held his hands up._

" _Queen Bee's been blackmailing me. She wants in Santa Prisca, too." M'gann revealed._

" _How has she been blackmailing you?" Itachi asked. Though he had a guess of how. Itachi knew that the one thing that is strong enough to make M'gann go against her friends was the threat of her true identity being revealed. Queen Bee must have discovered it somehow, "It's your true form, isn't it?"_

" _Yes, she knows my true Martian form." M'gann said with shame._

" _What, Bald M'gann? Who cares-" Itachi stopped Robin from making more of a fool out of himself, "That wasn't her true form. She lied to you all."_

" _What?" Zatanna didn't know a thing about what was going on._

" _Itachi is right. That wasn't my true form. I only showed Itachi what I really look like and even that was by mistake. I promised him I'd be honest with myself and wound up chickening out at the last second. I lied to Itachi's face and knew that I had disappointed him so much. Then Wrath killed him and took away my chance at apologizing for that and finally being honest. I thought you had died angry at me and couldn't forgive myself." M'gann revealed as she started crying._

" _I was never angry at you. I was sad that you didn't see how much all of us loved you. Your looks don't matter." Itachi responded sincerely._

" _I know that now," M'gann then morphed into her true form, a White Martian. Most of The Team gasped at the transformation. She looked like something out of an Aliens movie. Itachi, Aqualad, and Conner were the only ones who kept a straight face and didn't back away from her, "I thought that you would never accept me if you saw what I really am."_

" _M'gann, did we truly seem so shallow?" Aqualad asked with hurt in his voice._

" _I couldn't take the chance. Being a White Martian among the Green on Mars, I endured constant rejection. I couldn't face that from-" She didn't get to finish since Conner interrupted her._

" _From me," Conner walked up to her and took hold of her hand in a loving gesture,_ _ **"I've known since we melded minds back at Bialia."**_

" _ **But that was before we even became a couple. Why didn't you say anything?" M'gann asked.**_

" _ **I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."**_ _Conner answered understandingly. Itachi was glad that her fears were proven incorrect. Unfortunately, this revelation also confirmed another part of his theory as well._

* * *

M'gann used her powers to send Queen Bee back into a tree hard and Artemis used the distraction to shoot an arrow at her criminal family. M'gann let the others know that her part was done, **"Queen Bee is down. Superboy, you're safe from her control."**

"May not be much of a liar, but I sure fooled you." Superboy said as he walked towards Lex and Mercy.

"And I'm so proud. Who was it that cleaned Red Sun from your mind?" Lex inquired.

"The Crow, that's who! He and Miss Martian were also able to confirm that Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash rescued me from Cadmus before you had time to install any other programming." Superboy revealed.

"All true. Personally, I blame Dr. Desmond." Lex said as Blockbuster broke out of his prison and attacked Superboy by slamming his head into the ground and dragging it across the clearing. Bane and his men joined in as they began firing on the young heroes. Sportsmaster and Cheshire stalked Artemis down with the intention on attacking her.

"You have been a very naughty girl." Artemis knew they were in trouble and signaled the cavalry, **"Guys, reinforcement time."**

Bane and his mercenaries were then all attacked from behind now that the battle was starting, "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

A barrage of fireballs was unleashed on the mercenaries. Itachi even had shuriken hidden in the blasts to cut up anyone who had managed to dodge his initial attack. Rocket joined in and also started picking off any stragglers that had escaped. Kid Flash and Aqualad joined in the fight not long after.

Itachi was face to face with Bane as the brute activated his signature Venom serum to make himself stronger, "I will crush you, Crow!"

Itachi back flipped away from a double hammerfist by Bane. The villain caused a crater from his strength alone. Itachi knew that one hit from him would mean instant death, but it also meant that he wouldn't have to hold back so much on the brute. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and got ready to attack.

Lex went over to retrieve Queen Bee so that they could make their leave. Aqualad stepped in front to intercept their path, "Neither you nor Queen Bee is going anywhere."

"Young man if you expect to detain me, contact my attorney," Lex responded as Mercy morphed her arm into an energy gun and blasted Aqualad away. As they made their escape, Robin and Zatanna were taking out the rest of the mercenaries.

"Ekoms dna srorrim!" Zatanna used her magic to take a mercenary out via a large python. When it wrapped around him, she used her magic to turn the snake into actual bindings. Before either of them could be warned by Itachi, Bane clotheslined both of them from behind. Superboy was also in trouble too as Blockbuster had just got down punching him off of a cliff.

Aqualad tried to chase after Lex and Queen Bee, but the two of them had already made their way into a helicopter that was airborne. Rocket went after it to try and bring it down, but was stopped by missiles. She wanted to try again, but Aqualad stopped her. They needed her more down at the battlefield.

Artemis was being overwhelmed by her father and sister. It was tough with it being a two on one fight, "You know I don't tolerate disobedience, Artemis."

"Sure dad. Jade and I learned that the hard way." Kid Flash sprinted over and tackled Cheshire away from his teammate. He quickly tried going after Sportsmaster too, but was thrown into a tree for his troubles as Artemis rushed in to attack her father.

Robin and Itachi were both currently going up against Bane now. Robin tried a leaping kick to Bane's chest as Itachi went for the villain's back. The result was Robin being thrown into a nearby grounded helicopter while Itachi narrowly avoided being grabbed by Bane as he flipped over the behemoth. Itachi planted a paperbomb on Bane that went off and sent the big man hurdling forward. Itachi then summoned his Susanoo's skeletal fist and had it crush Bane down hard onto the ground.

Bane showed how powerful he was by slowly lifting the skeletal fist off of him. Itachi would have been impressed if it wasn't for the fact the strength was acquired by means of a drug. Just as Bane was about to be free of the skeletal fist, Itachi added muscle and flesh to it and thoroughly crushed Bane.

"That is true strength." Itachi said as began to walk over to the crushed villain. He took a kunai out and slashed where the tubes that contained the Venom that was entering into his body to return Bane back into a normal human. Bane exploded forward with a punch while shouting, "I am still STRONG!"

"Wrong, you are a weak and small man." Itachi said after he caught the surprise punch. Itachi used his kunai to then stab Bane's forearm. Bane screamed as the blade pierced all the way through to the other side of his arm, "Get it out! Get it out!"

"If that's what you want." Bane screamed as Itachi yanked the kunai out. Blood started leaking from Bane's wound. Itachi then used his Timeshadow to bring Bane back to the point to where he was last standing, only he was still suffering from being crushed by Itachi's Susanoo and stabbed by his kunai. He looked back and gave an indignant sigh, "You can have a turn."

Robin came out of nowhere and kicked Bane so hard in the face that he broke the man's jaw, "Serves you right, creep. Thanks for the assist, Crow."

"Geez, I don't know what scares me more; Crow when he beats villains down with illusions or Crow when he beats them down with his fists." Rocket said as Robin went to help Zatanna up.

Superboy climbed his way back up the cliff for round two with Blockbuster. Superboy tried to get an uppercut in on him, but the monster used its length to hit Superboy with a strong overhand left that dropped him. Miss Martian helped out by used her powers to knock Blockbuster off of Conner.

" **Superboy, Miss Martian, move!"** Itachi ordered. The two did as was told as the black flames of Itachi's Amaterasu hit Blockbuster's body and started burning him alive. Itachi then used another of the abilities of his Rinnegan, "Planetary Devastation!"

That jutsu drew all of the loose Earth from the battle field directly to Blockbuster and sealed him inside of it like it was a cocoon. Itachi and the other could still hear the muffled screams of Blockbuster as the villain was still being burned alive inside of his prison.

"Are we really gonna leave him like that?" Rocket asked timidly. She was clearly bothered by Blockbuster's wailing. Conner was just glad that the monster was contained and was in no rush to release him.

"You want to open the prison and fight him, be my guest." Conner answered.

"When he stops screaming I'll put the flames out. I don't want to risk him attacking us while our guard is down so I decided to give him ample reason to be obedient. Would you prefer I used genjutsu like how I did with Riddler? I saw how it bothered you earlier and decided to avoid using it. It's why Bane took as long as he did to finish." Itachi explained as his right eye started bleeding.

Artemis was fending off her father while this was happening. Itachi saw her beginning to struggle and decided to offer her assistance too, "Planetary Devastation!"

Loose Earth began to imprison Sportsmaster like how it did Blockbuster, only Sportmaster's head was left uncovered. The more the man tried struggling, the more his bones were being crushed by his prison. Sportsmaster called out for Cheshire to help him but she decided to make her escape instead, "Sorry dad. In this family, it's every girl for herself."

"Jade!" Sportsmaster yelled as he saw his daughter walk away into the shadows. Artemis walked up to him and snarled before kicking right in the head. She kicked him so hard that his mask flew off. Kid Flash was there to pick up the mask and bring it to his friend. She smiled as she knew Wally would keep her father's mask as his souvenir for the mission.

"So it is always like this." Rocket commented.

"Told you." Zatanna said with a smile.

"Yup, disaster was averted and now I'm feeling the aster." Robin joked.

"Today was a good day." Aqualad added. The group all got ready to leave but Artemis ran to Itachi who was wiping blood from his face. She looked at him with both a look of concern and suspicion, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." Itachi said to try and quell her worries. Artemis took a cloth out and wiped the blood off of her friend's face, "I'll always worry. Today was a good day, right?"

Itachi smiled at her, "Yes, today was a good day. Now let's go home."

Itachi put his mask back on and walked away but Artemis did not like his answer. It wasn't his answer per say, but more the smile he gave her. She'd come to know that as his lie smile. It was the one he gave whenever he had something serious on his mind that he didn't want anyone else to know about, _'All of the suspects told their confessions, all except you, Itachi. I know you know more about this. You're just not letting on. Why didn't you tell us your true thoughts? Is it because you think we'll hold you back? Or is it because whatever it is, you plan on taking it on alone and you don't want us to interfere. But we were with you the whole time. What could you have found out that was so vital yet none of us were able to pick up on it too? You must think we're so stupid compared to you. You're always three steps ahead of us. But I swear, it won't be like that forever, Itachi. We will catch up to you and stand side-by-side with you as equals.'_

* * *

After The Team returned from their mission, Itachi quickly left to go to a previously made obligation. Said obligation was his date with Carson at the Wayne Botanical Gardens. It was usually secluded at night and would give them the proper amount of privacy needed for their date He quickly changed into more casual clothes and met her at Carla's house. Casual being a buttoned up white shirt, dark jeans, and black dress boots. Carson came out with a casual look as well with a light blue jacket, short sleeved grey shirt, tightly fitted blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. The woman kindly greeted Itachi outside before wishing them good luck on their date.

The two of them left out and walked to Itachi's planned picnic. Carson shyly took hold of Itachi's hand as they made their way to their destination. He smiled at how shy Carson could be around him despite all that they had been through together, "It's only a date. Try to relax. You look great."

"I'm just glad that we haven't gotten any snow yet despite what time of year it is. Are you trying to butter me up or something? Thanks though. You look nice too. You even decided not to come with blood still on your clothes." Carson chided him.

"That-" Itachi tried to explain but she cut him off, "I know, I know. I'm just glad you didn't cancel on me this time."

"Sorry, I'll try to be better." Itachi said as they reached their destination. There was a blanket on the ground with a basket of fruit and a vase containing Carson's favorite flowers. She sighed in content at the smell of them, "You remembered that tulips are my favorites."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and they sat down to enjoy the fruit Itachi had prepared. This was time that Carson has been requesting for weeks and it made Itachi happy to see that she finally could get what she wanted. After all of the fruit was eaten, Carson playfully tackled Itachi to the ground and straddled on top of him as she giggled.

"I'm the super deadly ninja now." She joked as she started waving a plastic knife around like she was Itachi handling a kunai. She then began playing around by pretending to weave hand signs and shouting one of Itachi's signature jutsu, "Fireball Jutsu!"

"That was terrible. Here, let me show you," Itachi then used his free hand to take hold of hers and show her all of the required hand signs needed for the Fireball Jutsu. He started with Tiger, and then went into Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and ended with Tiger. She was amazed at how second nature the hand signs had become to him.

"With practice, I was able to cut the needed hand signs from six to three. Everything in life, even jutsu or relationships, gets better with practice and patience." Itachi wisely said as they stared into each other's eyes.

Carson got shy before asking her next question, "Itachi…are you a virgin?"

Itachi looked down at the ground before his eyes went back to hers, "Yes."

"Wow, I would have thought that you had all of the girls after you. You're saying that you didn't do it with a single one of them?" She asked.

"Not one. There were many suitors, but I wasn't interested in that. Despite my partner's tendency to indulge in lechery from time to time, I knew I had to stay focused on what really mattered. Only my mission mattered. The redemption of my clan and the salvation of my village and brother was all that I cared about back then. Plus…I didn't want to risk fathering a child into my world. What child would want me as their father? I am a liar and a murderer. What right do I have to feel that kind of pleasure and love after what I did to Izumi? I repaid her love with death. I died smiling twice, and even that was too good for me." Itachi answered honestly.

"You do deserve happiness. You've more than earned it. Izumi would want you to be happy, not suffer for her sake when you don't have to. To live is to both love and die. They both come with the package and you've already done one of those things. Well…aren't you going to ask me if I've ever been with someone in that way since we're being honest about past exes?" Carson shyly asked.

"Have you?" Itachi asked since Carson brought it up. She gulped before answering, "Only once. His name was Daniel. He was my first love and I just knew that we would get married, or so I thought. He didn't love me. Being with you has shown me what real love feels like."

"Should I be jealous?" Itachi asked. Carson laughed at his dry humor, "Trust me, you have him beat in every way. There's an old saying; you're either a blessing or lesson. He was definitely a lesson. Took advantage of my daddy and mommy issues and added on to them with trust issues."

"You trusted me when I was a homeless stranger you met in the gutter." Itachi noted Carson shrugged, "I don't know what compelled me to help you out. Not even to this day. I only know that I was tired of being hurt and hurting others. I wanted to fix that by finally helping others. It would be my luck that you had that problem too, only now you're helping the entire world."

"…so how did you and him end?" Itachi asked.

"With a kick to his groin after I found out that he was cheating on me. I was so desperate to feel loved by anyone after my family was destroyed by Black Mask. I'd do anything to get it. Even give my body to a jerk like him who didn't deserve it. I regret it to this day. He wasn't even sorry about cheating on me, only that his 'booty call' was gone. That was all I was to him. I hadn't done it or been with anyone since…" She sadly said as hurt poured into her voice.

"You're so much more than that to me. Everything I have now is because of you. Because you showed me that I could change for the better and be a hero. You're my everything." Itachi said as he kissed the palm of her hand.

She smiled at his gesture and shed a tear at how kind he was to her. She fell harder and harder in love with him with each passing second. She decided to go for broke and ask him a serious question about their future, "Do you want to start a family with me? You know, one day in the future. Maybe start off with a pet bird or something and build our way up…" Carson nervously said as a blush started coming.

"I haven't really thought about it." Itachi honestly answered. Carson started playing with her hair, "Maybe you should. One day, you won't have a mission. But for eternity, you're gonna have me. And I want kids."

"You know what my response to that is, right?" Itachi said with a knowing smile. Carson laughed at him, "One day at a time right? When can we get to the next stage?"

"When you can weave all of the hand signs of the Fireball Jutsu without my assistance. Back in my world, my clan would use that jutsu as a rite of passage. You show me you can do that, and I'll consider it as your initiation into my clan." Itachi responded.

"Deal. And when I do, we're gonna get married and have kids. You deserve to have a normal life and I want to be the woman who gives it to you." Carson said with satisfaction. She looked down at him with a mischievous smile, "While you teach me about hand signs and fireballs, I'll teach you about…other things."

"What other-" Carson leant down and kissed him with all of the passion she had in her heart as the moon above the brightly illuminated the dark sky.

She broke the kiss and started breathing hard as she took her jacket off. Itachi held her waist as she went back into kissing him. He enjoyed doing this with her. It was one of the few times he didn't feel like he had to be the savior of the world. He could be just Itachi Uchiha and it made him so happy to know that that was good enough for Carson.

She started unbuttoning his shirt slowly as she peppered him with kisses down his neck. She started moaning when his hands went to parts of her body that weren't her waist. He didn't mean to do it, but she let him after feeling how it felt, "It's okay. I want this."

The heated session went to another level when she started grinding on him. His breath caught at how amazing it felt. She stopped kissing to gaze upon a now shirtless Itachi, "You look beautiful, babe. I guess it's my turn."

She looked at him seductively as she took her shirt off so that she was only in her. Itachi looked up at her as the light from the moon highlighted just how beautiful Carson was to Itachi, "You are the moon of my life. Always there to guide me from the darkness."

"I love you, Itachi." She went back to kiss Itachi but her stopped her. She gave him a concerned look as she wondered why he stopped this, "What's wrong? Don't you want this?"

"I do, I'm just conflicted is all." Itachi said as he went to button his shirt back on. Carson sighed in confusion and disappointment as she also put her shirt back on. She laid down next to Itachi and cuddle up to him, "What's bothering you? Is it that I said that I love you?"

"No, it's not that. I want to do…that with you. I just don't know what comes after." Itachi quietly said.

"Um, rounds two and three?" Carson joked as Itachi shook her head at her. She giggled and decided to get serious, "Alright, alright. What's really bothering you?"

"…it's about the mission earlier," Carson groaned at him. She wondered how he could think of a mission when they were in the middle of something like this, "Really? We're together and alone under the beautiful moon on a night of romance and passion and all you can think about is some mission?"

Itachi gave her a sad smile and she knew that this was different. He lovingly kissed her shoulder before speaking again, "All I want is to live my life peacefully with you. Earlier today during my mission to investigate a hijacked jet, my teammates and I were ambushed. Afterwards, they all made confessions and became closer for it."

"They, but not we?" Carson asked. Itachi nodded at her, "I couldn't divulge what I knew. I didn't want to put them in danger or worry them."

"So instead you'll just put yourself in danger and worry me." Carson retorted with irritation.

"Just hear me out. Earlier during the ambush, I put Riddler under a genjutsu. I lied to my friends about the purpose for that. My friends think I only used genjutsu to incapacitate Riddler, but in reality, I used it to get intel out of him." Itachi revealed.

"…so what did you learn?" Carson reluctantly asked.

"I learned that the organization known as The Light has been behind everything. The conflicts, the suspicions, even this so-called mole on The Team was just a ploy by The Light to get us off of their trail. None of us was a mole. If we were, the Light wouldn't have used resources on having each of the known suspects shadowed by one of their members. Miss Martian, Artemis, Superboy, and myself all have been watched by certain members and it was all to gain access to parts of The Team that this mole couldn't get into." Itachi revealed.

"Wow, that is heavy. Talk about a mood killer." Carson stated. She saw how worried Itachi was and gave him a peck on the lips for reassurance, "Hey, whatever they have planned against you won't work. You'll beat them."

"But at what cost? Carson, when I peeked into Riddler's mind I saw their master plan. The Day of Golden Light is happening soon. In about a day or so. We have to stop them before it does." Itachi revealed.

"You'll do it, Itachi. I believe in you." Carson said as she gave a soft squeeze to Itachi's hand. He appreciated the gesture, but I didn't change how concerned he was.

"There is one last thing. When the Day of Golden Light occurs, and the Great Convergence reemerges, I'm supposed to lose someone that I truly love to it. The Masked Stranger will take someone from me if her plan succeeds. Whatever her master plan is, it involves taking me away with her." Itachi said as he stared into his lover's eyes. He wanted so badly to avoid the worst case scenario happening, but he knew that he had to be prepared for the worst, "There are only two people in this world that I love in that type of way…two people are in danger. Those people are Ms. Yumi and you."

"Me…did you just admit to loving me?" Carson asked as she started blushing heavily.

"…I do. I love you, Carson. So tomorrow, I'll do everything in my power to protect you and Ms. Yumi from my enemies. My friends can't know about this. If they did, they'd never let me out of their sight. It would limit how much I could protect both of you."

"Do what you need to do and end this so that we can finally live in peace. I'm all the way behind you." Carson said with a warm smile. Despite learning that her life was in danger, she had all the faith that Itachi would protect her.

"I will. You just may not like what I have in mind." Itachi responded.

"Does it involve you kissing another woman?" Carson asked with a raised brow.

"No," Itachi answered. Carson kissed Itachi softly on the lips before smiling against him, "Then I'll get over it."

Itachi smiled back at her and kissed her in thanks. They held each other through the long night knowing that it could very well be their last time being able to do it. They could only hope that Itachi's plan would work out in the end and all of his loved ones made it out safely, because if he was wrong, then The Masked Stranger wins and the world as they know it will end. The only thing that trouble Itachi was that he still didn't know The Masked Stranger's identity or endgame. He only knew that she wanted to change the world at its very core.

' _But change it in what way? And how?'_ He asked himself.

* * *

Back at the Watchtower, Batman was bust scanning the biotech that The Team had acquired earlier today. Red Arrow walked up to him in amazement at his dedication to work.

"So, are you ever joining the party?" Roy asked.

"This bio circuitry is disturbingly sophisticated." Batman replied. Roy smiled at his response, "I'll take that as a no."

Roy then implanted one of the nanobots into Batman's head and before Bruce could react, he found himself under control of the nanobot. It wasn't just Batman under control either. The entire Justice League had been implanted with the nanotech and had all fallen under its control. Batman walked over to a computer screen and inputted his override codes.

The Zeta Chamber opened and Vandal Savage appeared before the League as the heroes bowed before him. Roy seemed to snap out of the gaze he was in and looked around in shock and fear after he realized what he had just done, "I-I was the mole?"

"Yes, yes you were," Savage then went over to the glass to observe the stars and sun, "And now, thanks to you, the Day of Golden Light is nearly upon us. In fact, it will transpire in about twenty-four hours. Just in time for New Year's Day. The world gets a new year, but the humanity will get a new start when the Great Convergence transpires. We only need two more people for this glorious day to happen. The Stranger and The Crow. A mother and her son. It is time to finally reunite the tragic family at last."

* * *

That's it for this chapter! We're almost there folks! We saw a lot happen in this chapter. We saw two fight scenes, The Team make their confessions and get closer for it, and we even saw Batman give a compliment. The plot just keeps on rolling as Roy finally realized that he was the mole. Now the heroes have to rush to stop The Light. We also got to see Itachi and Carson's relationship as things got steamy and they finally showed more of their hearts to each other. It was hard writing what type of lover Itachi would be so I hope most of the readers enjoy that part. Itachi's relationships with both Carson and Ms. Yumi help keep him grounded and has been so fun to write. His roles as a lover and as a son play such a great factor to the soul of this story. So image the pain he'd feel if one of them were lost, that's why next chapter we will see Itachi hold nothing back for their sake. Thanks for all of the support of last chapter. You make it so easy for me to keep writing this. If you haven't already, go ahead and favorite, follow, and review this story. I enjoy hearing what you all think about the chapters and responding to them. We're all just fans at the end of the day. PMs are welcomed too if you want to ask me about anything, whether it be story related or non-story related. Next chapter, we finally see the master plan. Till next time guys and gals!


	38. The Day Of Golden Light

**Anime hotty lover.18 – You know what they say, "Great minds think alike." I mostly wanted to bring some realism to Carson. With how rough her background was, it seemed more realistic to have her be with someone at least once in the past.**

 **Brave2000 – I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. And with the other Rinnegan abilities, I got you this chapter.**

 **1968 – Ehhhh, just read on and be surprised.**

 **Guest – I'm glad you like it so far.**

 **Keybladelight – Want to and will are two different things. As for the Masked Stranger, you'll get your answers, and probably more questions, once you read this chapter.**

 **Drew86419 – I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the beginning parts. Not my best work if I'm being honest but if you stay with the story, I promise you that I and the story get better.**

 **Xenoblubber – Yeah, not my best work but I was just getting a feel for writing back then. I'm much better now. I hope you will give it another chance but I will respect if you decide to stop reading.**

 **Andresskorskiruiz – A sequel or another story? For the sequel, it just depends if enough readers really want one. For another story in general, yes. I want to write something that involves Reiner Braun, Ken Kaneki, or Zuko since those are three of my favorite characters of any platform.**

 **Heavenlyenigma – That may be true, but that's not our 22 million. ANYBODY would be upset if they had 22 million of their dollars burned. But, I'll probably wind up increasing the number once I finish the story and revise the earlier chapters for future readers' enjoyment.**

 **Gabe – Oh yeah.**

 **Dragonslayerajahn – You mean in his apartment? That wouldn't work because the only reason Roy felt so much about the accusation was because it was coming from Kaldur, his friend not some teenage heroes he had just met.**

 **Guest – I respect your opinion, but I prefer a weak character but strong story/plot over an overpowered character but weak story/plot any day of the week. Ask WB/DC about how hard it is to make a good film about Superman that everyone loves. I LOVE MOS to my grave but for some reason most people didn't. A strong story always beats an OP character. The film Logan is always my go-to example of that. But hey, that's your opinion and I won't try to change it. We can disagree but still be peaceful about it. That's why I love being a reader.**

* * *

The plan was plain and simple; keep Carson and Ms. Yumi alive. Itachi decided that the only way to do that was to get them out of Gotham City. The Day of Golden Light was supposed to happen sometime today and Itachi didn't want to take any chances. He had Carson and Ms. Yumi gathered at Carla's house along with James. He was currently going over the plan with them.

"We will exit the city using Westward Bridge. It is still abandoned so we won't have to worry about stealth once we get there, though we will have to travel on foot thanks to all of the abandoned cars still located on the bridge." Itachi explained.

"I still can't believe the city hasn't cleared that bridge after all of this time." Carla commented.

"They've been pretty busy with all of the city wide destruction that keeps happening. Gotham may be bad, but we can cut them a break on this one." James said in defense of the city.

"He's right. I believe that is why Itachi wished to remove us from the city." Ms. Yumi added.

"It's true and it's also why discretion is important. If my theory is correct, then I've been compromised. All of my comrades that were under suspicion of being a mole on The Team revealed that they had all been compromised by members of The Light. I believe I have been compromised as well. I think someone from The Light has been spying on me as well." Itachi revealed.

"Who could follow you and you not realize it until now?" Ms. Yumi asked with concern.

"Someone who is also from our world and is a shinobi like me; The Masked Stranger. She's the only one who is capable of it. I don't know why she hasn't made her presence known like the others, but I have to assume it's for a very important reason. Ever since E-Day, there has been no citing of her. We have to be careful if we are to make it out of the city in one piece. I figure that leaving Gotham is our best chance just in case she tries anything. It will reduce the risk of another major battle devastating the city." Itachi explained.

"What if she does attack us? You can't fight her and protect us." Ms. Yumi asked.

"That's where James comes in. He and his partner are tasked with getting you all to safety if the Stranger makes her move on us. She will think that she has the advantage but in reality she will fall for my trap. And with us being out of the city, I wouldn't have to hold back and I'll finally end this. That is how we stop The Day of Golden Light." Itachi said as he finished explaining the plan.

"So basically, your plan is to use yourself as bait. And then when the fish bites after thinking you're vulnerable, you'll spring your trap and defeat her. That's a sound plan, but what will you do if it fails? What is the Stranger never shows? And where are we even going after we leave Gotham?" Carson asked.

"To make sure that you and Ms. Yumi survive. The goal, above all else, is to get you to safety. That is why I gave James my code to get into the Cave should I fail to prevent The Day of Golden Light. You will tell my friends and the League about what happened and hopefully they will succeed where I failed. The Stranger will show. She needs me to initiate the next step of her plans. Once we leave Gotham, we'll head to a hideout I had made for just in case I was ever compromised. No one else knows about this." Itachi answered.

"Why do you have a secret hideout that no one knows about? Were you planning on ghosting on us?" Carson asked with hurt in her voice.

"Yes, it was only for just in case I posed too much of a threat to be around anyone close to me. In hindsight, I should have gone there when Wrath first made his intentions known but I was too arrogant. It cost me dearly and I won't make the same mistake with Wrath's teacher." Itachi explained.

"I see. So…who is James' mystery partner?" Carson asked while trying to switch the subject. Carla gave her friend a downdraught look before answering her, "Carson, I know that you may not like this, but Itachi said it was the best way for us to stay safe. We need someone who knows all of the back routes of Gotham and has a way to use them in plain sight without suspicion."

"Who is he?" Carson asked. Carla went to the front door and opened it. Carson gasped when she saw that the person behind the door was none other than Carla's husband, Phillip. The ex-corrupt cop took a step in with a look of guilt on his face, "Hey Carson, how have you been…"

"No, what is he doing here?! He's the reason why James and I almost died! You should be in jail. How are you even here?" Carson asked with anger.

"The city decided to have mercy on me when they found out that Black Mask was using my wife against me and let me out early. I was demoted to traffic duty and have had to do thorough check in's with IA since being let go. I'm clean now. Carla has visited me on a regular basis for a while now to. She knows how sorry I am and how much I want to atone for what I have done." Phil explained.

James went up to his sister and put a hand on her shoulder before speaking, "Carson, this is bigger than just us. If we don't succeed, something terrible could happen to our world. If working with Phil means possibly saving the world, don't you think it is worth it?"

"I swear I won't let you down. I will protect and serve like how I should have done from the very beginning." Phil swore.

"Okay, fine. But this changes nothing between us. You got an innocent child and my mom killed and I'll never forget that." Carson bitterly said.

"Neither will I." He responded. Itachi walked up to Phil and gave a nod of approval, "Thank you for coming. You didn't have to do this, but you did anyway. No one will think twice about where you go with you being a cop. It's the perfect cover for us. All I ask is that you get us to Westward Bridge quietly and safely."

"You protected my wife from Black Mask and every other creep who threatens this city. You showed me mercy when you would have been justified in putting me down for good. I won't let you down, Crow." Phil said with determination.

"I know you won't. You want to protect Carla just as much as I want to protect Carson and Ms. Yumi." Itachi responded as he got ready to go. Phil, James, and Carla all went outside to get in Phil's car. Carson gave Itachi one last kiss before heading outside too. She hoped that this nightmare would finally be over after this. Itachi put his mask on in preparation for the trip. While they would be travelling by car, Itachi would take to the rooftops the watch the surrounding areas to make sure The Masked Stranger wasn't following them.

Ayumi walked over to her ward one last time with a sad look in her face, "Itachi, please just run away. Forget about an old woman like me. I'll only wind up causing you pain."

Itachi took his mask back off and gave her a serious look, "Don't ask me to do that. I won't abandon you. I've already lost one mother. I refuse to lose a second one."

"But I beg you. Itachi, this Masked Stranger will hurt you. She will hurt you through Carson and me. I can't stand to see that. If you leave this city, she won't be able to get to you. You will be safe and that's all that matters." Ayumi pleaded.

"We have a plan and I have the Rinnegan. I will protect you." Itachi promised.

"The last time you and the Masked Stranger crossed paths, she left your body broken. I'm scared that she will take it a step farther next time. Itachi, I'm scared that if you go through with this plan, it will end in tears for the both of us. I don't want to see you cry." Ayumi said as tears began to flow.

"Why would I cry? I haven't shed a tear since I lost my family on the night of the massacre. Are you afraid that she'll kill me?" Itachi asked.

"No, I'm scared that she will break your heart." Ayumi answered. Itachi was confused by her answer, "How would she do that? That Stranger means nothing to me, but you are everything. One day, I want you to be able to see your son again. I'm fighting for that day to come."

"Thank you, Itachi, but please…I beg you to reconsider that. From all of these years of waiting and watching, I think that this Stranger from our world is more important to you than you know. I don't know how this day will turn out, but I do know this; no matter what happens in the end, please know that I love you and being able to spend time with you has made me the happiest I have been in a very long time. I hope you remember that in the end." Ayumi said as she started to walk outside.

"Why does it feel like you're saying goodbye to me?" Itachi asked with concern.

"Just preparing for the worst. We both know how beautiful a lie can be and just how ugly the truth really is. My son died without me being there for him and I never got the chance to tell him how much I loved him in the end. I won't make that mistake this time. Please, keep watching over me, Itachi. I will always love you." She said before leaving out of the door.

"I love you too." Itachi responded as he put his mask back on. He was about to head out, but got a message from his teammates. The timing couldn't be worse what with Itachi about to begin a secret mission of his own. Fortunately, Itachi knew that this could happen and had a contingency plan in place for it, _'I won't fail again. I will save them.'_

* * *

Roy was currently in the train tunnels of Washington D.C. while trying to escape his suitors. The people following him were members of the Justice League that had fallen under Vandal Savage's control thanks to Roy implanting the nanobots into their heads. The Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow were all chasing after him. It didn't take long for them to catch up to the young hero. Just when they were about to recapture him though, a train sped through and blocked the Leaguers' line of sight. It was just enough of a distraction for Roy to use the sewers to make his escape.

Back in Mount Justice, The Team happily welcomed Itachi as he Zeta-Beamed over in response to the message. They wanted everyone present to both praise just how strong The Team has gotten and discuss a pressing matter. They wanted to figure out just how the enemy was still getting intel on them.

"We have reason to feel proud of yesterday's victories. But one thing has not changed…" Aqualad started.

"Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us." Robin finished.

"Yeah, but at least we know none of us are the mole." Wally responded. Artemis and M'gann noticed how distant Itachi was being. It wasn't his usual way of distance either. They got the feeling like Itachi's mind was somewhere else at the moment. They slowed down to talk to him.

"Hey, are you okay? You're acting quieter than usual." M'gann whispered to her friend. When Itachi didn't respond to M'gann's question, Artemis spoke up next, "Is there something going on? You know you can tell us, right? We're a team and we're family."

"Focus on why we're here." Itachi coldly responded. They both knew that something was immediately wrong after that. They know Itachi to be dismissive, but he hasn't acted cold towards them since Wrath was threatening to destroy everything Itachi cared about. Artemis refused to let this go.

"If something is wrong or someone is in danger you need to tell us so we can help you." She indignantly whispered.

"The only thing I'm focused on is the mole. You should too." Itachi responded as he wanted this miniature intervention to end.

"We only want to help you. You've done so much for us when we all have problems. Why aren't we allowed to help you too?" M'gann sadly asked.

"Because I don't want your help, now leave me alone." Itachi said as he walked up towards the others in the conference room where Batman and Red Tornado were waiting for them. Artemis and M'gann had shocked looks on their faces. Artemis's quickly went to anger and frustration where as M'gann's quickly turned into confusion and sadness. M'gann was about to take matters into her own hands and read Itachi's mind but her boyfriend stopped her.

With Conner's super-hearing, he was able to hear the conversation even though they were whispering at a distance. He, too, was shocked by how cold Itachi was treating them and wanted to say something to him about but in the end, he decided to let it go for now.

"We don't have the right to invade his personal thoughts if he doesn't feel like letting us in. Now's not the time for that. But when we figure this mole thing out and put a stop to it, all of us will be having a conversation with Itachi. He's hiding something and I want to know what it is." Conner whispered.

"You don't think he's the mole, don't you?" Artemis asked accusingly. Conner quickly shot her down, "Of course not. But that doesn't mean he's not hiding something. I won't let him go through whatever he's going through alone. Are you with me?"

"Yes." Both girls answered in unison. The Team made it to the conference room as Batman addressed them, "That's correct. None of you were the mole. The mole was Red Arrow."

"Roy?" Robin asked.

"No way!" Wally shouted.

"Batman that cannot be. He was Green Arrow's protégé. We have all known him for years." Kaldur responded.

"Why don't you all ask Itachi? He also knows the truth, don't you?" Batman knowingly asked.

They all turned towards Itachi with a look of disbelief. Wally walked up to the vigilante, "Please, Itachi, please don't tell me that this is true. Is Roy the mole?"

"Yes, he is." Itachi answered. Robin got frustrated from hearing that, "You knew he was the mole and didn't tell anybody? How long? How long have you sat on this while just keeping all of us in the dark?!"

"Since New Orleans," Itachi answered as the others gasped. Kaldur couldn't believe what he was hearing from his friend, "Why would you keep that a secret from us for all this time? Did you not trust us?"

"…no." Itachi coldly answered. They all couldn't believe what they were hearing from him, "You wouldn't have believed me even if I did tell you. Not without proof at least. Me, some outsider from another Earth versus Roy, someone that most of you have either known or known of for all your lives. I was realistic in what accusing him could do to The Team's chemistry and held off on the information until I got definitive proof. After I put Riddle in my genjutsu yesterday and read his mind, I got all the proof I needed."

"Then why didn't you tell us yesterday about Roy?" Zatanna asked.

"Because he didn't trust us with the truth, that's why! Even though he's on this Team, he's never truly acted like one of us. This is our friend you're talking about and for you to hide something like this from us and act like it's no big deal is so messed up! Some friend you are! But what can I expect from a guy who lied to his own family. If he can do that to them, there's no telling how low he can get with us." Wally said as everyone stood shocked by his cold words.

"That was uncalled for! Take that back!" Artemis shouted. Itachi had no physical response to his friend's cold words towards him. He only sighed.

"Even if I had told you all that your friend is a mole, would it have changed anything? You would've still tried to reach out to him to try and figure out why he did it. I know how loyal you all are towards your friends. It's all right. You can be mad at me if you want to. You can even hate me if it makes you feel better. But right now, the only thing that matters to me is the mission." Itachi responded calmly. He took no offense to Wally's words at all.

Red Tornado decided to interject between The Team's squabble, "Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone."

"We've learned the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick. The clone was pre-programmed with a drive to join the Justice League. Which is why he was so angry over any delays to his admission and why he refused to join The Team. This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor. His subconscious programming drove him to become League worthy. So he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. It was also why he had an immediate disliking towards Itachi. He felt that Itachi was a threat to that ultimate goal of joining the League. When he was finally admitted, his secondary programming kicked in ad he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared." Batman explained.

"I take it you knew about this too?" Wally bitterly asked towards Itachi. The shinobi's answer shocked him, "No, I didn't know that he was a clone."

"Savage has been subdued, but Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive, armed, and dangerous." Red Tornado informed them.

"If you guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus…" Conner said as he wondered if this could have also been his fate.

"Wait, what happened to the real Roy?" Robin asked.

"We don't know. He isn't at Cadmus. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead." Batman stated. Wally, Robin, and Kaldur especially were saddened by that bit of news. They truly wished that they could have saved their friend.

"The clone Roy, The Team will find him." Kaldur declared. Batman quickly shot that idea down though, "Negative. Red Arrow is a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us. I'm needed on the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the kids."

Itachi caught how he ended his sentence and immediately thought something was wrong. While everyone was distracted, Itachi disappeared into the shadows and waited for his moment.

Batman then Zeta-Beamed back to the Watchtower as The Team contemplated what to do next. Kaldur turned towards The Team and mentally addressed them, **"Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him. Where is Itachi?"**

They all looked and finally noticed that Itachi had vanished on them. Wally groaned and made a comment about this not shocking him at all since Itachi is notorious for ditching them. Before any of them knew what happened, Red Tornado was powered down out of nowhere.

" **Tornado!"** M'gann mentally said with concern.

" **What happened to him?"** Conner asked. They all noticed Itachi emerge from behind Tornado with a bunch of wires in his hand, **"That was my doing."**

" **Why did you do that to him?!"** Wally questioned. Robin used his scanned to see that he was totally powered down and that all of his functions were offline. Even Zatanna began to feel that something was off when she felt low-level magic at play. They wanted answers from Itachi.

" **You didn't feel that something was off with Batman. He knew that Roy was a clone, but still let him join the same League he was programmed to betray. Something didn't add up. The best liars are the ones who know how to mix the truth in with their lies. And the real smoking gun was Batman's last words to us. He called us kids."** Itachi explained.

" **I…I was getting the same mystic buzz off Batman that I am off of Red Tornado."** Zatanna admitted.

" **Batman did call us kids. He never does that."** Robin realized. Itachi went up to Tornado and took something that the robot was holding in its hand, **"He meant to use this against us."**

" **One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire."** Wally noted.

" **Something is not right. Robin, Kid, Zatanna, and Rocket; see if you can get Tornado back online. The rest are with me to find Roy…I mean Red Arrow."** Aqualad instructed as The Team went into action.

* * *

Aqualad's group left The Cave to begin the pursuit of their former comrade. Robin and his group stayed back to figure out just what the heck was even going on. Robin began scanning to figure out the problem, **"The problem is hardware, not software. Itachi seemed to have shut down his entire body, but made sure to leave his brain intact."**

" **He may be a jerk at times, but he is efficient."** Wally noted.

" **You know you have to apologize to him, right? What you said was wrong on so many levels and considering how you reacted when he had proof, imaging how bad it would have been if he had revealed this without proof. Itachi was in the right."** Rocket commented.

" **I know, I know. I just hate how stupid he must think we are. He's always ahead of us. I'd like, just for once, for us to be ahead of him on something. He's so distant towards us at times that it feels like he doesn't want to be here with us. He doesn't really need us. He can do so much on his own and not even have to involve us. Just look how he figured something was wrong with Batman and Red Tornado based off of one sentence. Don't tell him I said this, but I don't want him to leave The Team. He's my friend."** Wally admitted.

" **Then maybe try not to take your insecurities out on him. Itachi didn't hide it from us to be snobby or malicious. Itachi only wanted to spare your feelings. The mission isn't all that matters to him. We all matter to him too. Itachi, at his very core, is a kind person. What kind person wants to break the news to his friends that someone they have known for years has been betraying them behind their back? Could you have easily broken that bit of news?"** Zatanna questioned.

" **No, when you put it like that, I don't think I could have,"** Wally admitted. Robin put a hand on his friend's shoulder, **"Itachi is on our side, man. He's been there for us plenty of times and we have been there for him too. Sometimes, we just have to remind ourselves that Itachi has been doing this a lot longer than we have and he has more experience than we do. Itachi would never do anything that would intentionally hurt us."**

" **Yeah, you're right. I'll apologize to him when all this is over. I owe it to him as both a teammate and a friend."** Wally swore.

" **Good, now we have to figure out how to fix Tornado."** Robin said as they got back to the task at hand.

" **I think I have an idea on how to do that."** Zatanna said as she pointed towards Tornado's personal chamber. They went to the room and found his human body lying on the table and figured what Zatanna had in mind. Wally started to process of downloading Tornado's consciousness over to his human body.

As the download was going on, Black Canary transported over to The Cave. She walked over to the group as she addressed them, "Hey guys, I wanted to check in and see how you're handling the-, what are you doing to Red?!"

"It's not how it looks." Wally said trying to defend the group. Canary saw exactly how it looks, "It looks like you're downloading his consciousness into a new body."

"Okay, it's pretty much exactly how it looks. But…" Tornado rose up in his new body once the download was completed and immediately warned them of the imminent danger, "Team, get out of The Cave now!"

Canary used her Canary Cry to attack the young heroes unexpectedly. The attack tore apart Tornado's new body and blew Rocket and Zatanna backwards. Robin hid under the table to avoid most of the attack and went to counter Canary. He leapt at her but she caught him by the arm and threw him to the ground. She then swung him around before throwing him several feet away from her. Canary was about to use another sonic blast, but noticed that Robin had planted a bomb on her. The bomb went off and surrounded the Leaguer with sleep gas to incapacitate her. Before she could try to leap away, Rocket formed a force field around the hero and trapped her with the gas. Canary eventually would succumb to the gas and fall unconscious.

"Black Canary attacked us?" Zatanna asked not believing what just happened. Tornado forced himself up after he recovered from Canary's attack, "Black Canary is the least of our problems. We must abandon The Cave!"

The group quickly found Wolf and had Sphere transform into its vehicle mode to get away just as Icon, Doctor Fate, and Captain Marvel all teleported into the Cave to presumably attack the heroes like how Canary did. They made it out of The Cave safely before any conflict arrived.

They were flying in the air as Tornado laid out how they would progress from here, "Stay off your radios. Let the super cycle track Superboy. Instruct her to mask all signals. We cannot allow the League to track us."

"Right. Of course. Just one question; why is the Justice League after us?!" Wally shouted.

"It's not us the League is necessarily after." Tornado responded.

"What's that supposed to mean? They sure looked to be after us back in The Cave?" Wally responded.

"That was only because you and your friends could be used as bait to lure in the League's real target. The hero that Savage wanted under his control all along but never got the chance to because said person was several steps ahead of him and rejected the League's offer to join them. After that, he forced Savage's hand to be more aggressive in his pursuit." Tornado revealed.

"Oh no…" Robin said as he realized who Tornado was referring to. Tornado had a gloomy look on his face when he finally revealed the name, "The League's target is Itachi Uchiha. Savage plans on sacrificing Itachi to The Masked Stranger so that The Day of Golden Light may transpire. That day begins on New Year's Day at midnight. We must keep Itachi away from her or the entire world will suffer the consequences."

"What is The Day of Golden Light and why is Itachi needed for it?" Robin asked. Tornado looked down in dread of the information he was about to pass down to the young heroes.

* * *

While Robin's group was on the run from the League, Aqualad's group was currently flying over the Hall of Justice in M'gann's Bioship. They were going over possible leads to Red Arrow's location.

"Computer logs indicate that Red Arrow is heading to The Hall from the Watchtower, but he could be anywhere by now." Artemis said worriedly. Good thing for them, Aqualad knew his friend and where his friend decided to hideout after going solo, "After Roy went solo, he installed equipment caches in several major cities. One is here."

The group made their way to one of Roy's secret hideouts. Kaldur decided to go on his own since he thought that Roy could mistake that the whole group was there for malicious reasons. Kaldur wanted to appeal to his bond with Roy. The leader snuck into the hideout and kicked the door down to see the archer with his bow already drawn and on the defensive. Aqualad walked forward cautiously to show that he did not intend to harm his friend.

"I have not come to harm or apprehend you, but The Team requires answers." Aqualad stated. Roy wanted to believe him, but he wanted to make sure that this wasn't a trick, "Tell me something you haven't told to anyone else. Tell me who broke your heart.

Aqualad sighed sadly before answering, "Tula. The girl I loved chose my best friend, Garth, over me while my best friend on the surface world aims an arrow at my chest."

That answer was enough to convince Roy that it wasn't a trick and that he could trust his friend. The two of them returned to the Bioship where answers could finally be given to all of the questions they had.

"We were told you were the mole, but we have reason to doubt." Aqualad started. Itachi shook his head at how they had dismissed what he revealed to them. He knew they would choose Roy over them. It took Roy one look to figure that it was Itachi who figured it out. He sighed before he put their doubts to rest though, "Forget doubt. I was the mole."

"Batman and Tornado said that you're a Cadmus clone like me." Conner revealed.

"That explains it. I was a sleeper agent…pre-programmed to infiltrate the League. I think Sportsmaster was my handler. He had a key phrase, _'Broken Arrow,'_ that could shut me down and put me in a hypnotic state to steal secrets for his superiors, or even incorporate further programming. I'd then carry out all orders subconsciously while being completely unaware of what drove me. I think one of those orders was to focus suspicion on the four of you. I'm sorry." Roy sincerely said.

"How did Batman discover this and prevent you from betraying the League?" Kaldur asked.

"He didn't, isn't that right Roy." Itachi responded in more of a statement than a question. Roy nodded his head at the shinobi in response.

Robin's group was currently trying to catch up with Aqualad and his group. While on the way, Red Tornado had fully explained the depths of Vandal Savage's plans, or at least as much as he understood himself, "Savage used Roy to implant devices in each of the Leaguers by the name of Starotech. It is an alien bio-organism fused with nano-technology and magic. It shuts down the mind's autonomy, allowing Savage to reprogram the individual to suit his needs. Even my inorganic brain was not immune to its affect. It was based off of Itachi's genjutsu and its ability to allow him to control victims under his control in any manner that suited him. It's this world's best attempt at copying it. But similar to a genjutsu, this technology has its drawbacks. Like with genjutsu, if faced with outside interference, the Starotech will be rendered powerless and its victim will be freed of its control. Itachi figured that out and managed to power my body down before I could infect any of you. And since the Starotech is body specific, as John Smith I am permanently free of Savage's grip."

"This Starotech worked on super-powered humans, four flavors of alien, and android. Even Doctor Fate, I take it, couldn't fight this off. It defeated all of you without a fight?" Robin asked to make sure he hadn't heard wrong.

"Indeed, it is a remarkable achievement. It is thorough and left us with no time to even know what hit us until it was too late. If Itachi hadn't seen this coming and took us up on our offer to join the League, the world would already be lost." Tornado stated

"All this just to get Itachi and this Masked Stranger together, but why? The Stranger seems pretty strong on her own if she took down the Justice League by herself already. Why go to such lengths and be so secretive all of a sudden?" Wally asked.

"It's because her goals have changed. Last time, she only wanted to stall for time where as this time, she needs to meet a deadline or her plans will be thwarted. She needs Itachi and knows that we will do everything in our power to keep him away from her." Tornado explained.

"But what brought about this change?" Rocket asked.

"Two things; the first being that Itachi had awakened the Rinnegan. The Stranger needs it for the next part of her plans. The second and possibly most important, the League was recently successful in creating an interdimensional portal transmitter. It creates a rift across all dimensions that can be used to transport someone to another dimension. We were planning on using it to send Itachi back to his Earth." Tornado revealed as the young heroes protested.

"I can't believe that!" Wally complained.

"Why would you do that!?" Robin demanded.

"It was only meant as a last resort. A means to permanently keep Itachi away from the Stranger should we fail to defeat her. Roy must have found out and alerted them. That's probably what changed their tactics and made them more strategic about acquiring Itachi." Tornado surmised.

"Why weren't we informed about this? We don't have a say about our friend?" Robin asked.

"We felt that you would not be able to separate your feelings of friendship and loyalty from your responsibilities as heroes. It was never meant to be used. We want Itachi here as well, but we had to account for something else. Something that none of you might not want to hear nor understand." Tornado explained.

"What could possible justify something like this?" Zatanna asked. Tornado steeled himself for the cold truth, "In case Itachi decided to leave us and return to his home. This device is a means for Itachi to return to the home that was taken from him. It would have been our gift for him should he had decided to join the League. The chance for him to finally go home." Tornado revealed.

The heroes looked down in defeat. They all knew Itachi loved his home above all else and would go through hell for it. He chose to kill his own family rather than abandon his home, so they dreaded the chances they stood of convincing him to stay should the offer be presented to Itachi.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but how is it that you are no longer enslaved?" M'gann asked to Roy.

"I wasn't implanted with a Starotech for starters, only my Cadmus programming. And once I had satisfied its last parameter, my mind began to clear. I'm sure Savage planned to Starotech me, but he paused to…bask. Something about a day of light or something. He also mentioned the Masked Stranger and reuniting her with Crow. He then went over to the interdimensional portal transmitter to…study it. I think their master plan involves using it somehow. But that doesn't make any sense considering was created to…" Roy trailed off as he felt a headache coming on. Itachi felt sympathy for the man and decided to help ease at least some of his pain.

"I can clear your mind of any residual programming using my genjutsu. But tell me, what is this portal transmitter and why was it created?" Itachi asked.

Roy gave him a sad look before apologizing. The others were interested in what he was about to say too, "Itachi, the transmitter-"

Roy was cut off when Robin telepathically made contact, **"Miss Martian, are you in range?"**

" **Here, Robin. Linking both squads and decamouflaging."** She responded. Robin piloted their transportation inside of the Bioship's docking bay, **"Good because we really need to compare notes…"**

Once everyone got together, both sides revealed what they learned to each other. Both groups had basically discovered the same thing; that Savage had used these Starotech devices to take control of the League and gain access to the Watchtower, Roy really is a clone and spy, and Itachi is the true target of Savage and The Light. Their goal is to capture him so that The Masked Stranger can use him for some unknown reason. Robin decided to hide the part about the interdimensional matter transporter's true purpose for a different time when he found out that the others still hadn't learned it yet. That was an explanation owed to them by the League, not anyone else. They had to table that and think of ways to counter Savage's plans.

The first, and obvious, reaction was for The Team to try and convince Itachi to stay away from the Watchtower. Obviously, that was shut down by said shinobi. Itachi had no intentions on letting others fight his battle just to keep him away from one person, especially since he already knew that The Masked Stranger was after him. He couldn't tell them that though and decided to keep it close to the vest. So instead he opted to go a different route.

"The only way we can defeat Savage and save the League is from the inside. All of us are needed to fight them. We just need a way in without being detected. Fortunately for us, three of them are here now." Itachi said as everyone turned to Canary, who had woken up, Red Tornado, and Red Arrow.

"Itachi is right. They are the only ones with access into the Watchtower." Robin said in agreement with Itachi.

"Yeah, but what do we do about Canary? Itachi can't just pull wire out of her head too. It wouldn't end as cleanly as it did with Red." Wally pointed out.

"From the way Roy and Tornado have explained this Starotech to me, I believe it is designed to simulate a genjutsu. Or at least this world's best attempt at one. But I've found since being here, that technology is fickle. It shouldn't be hard to reverse its affects." Itachi surmised.

"But how? None of us even know where to begin with this Starotech." Rocket pointed out. Itachi had a quick answer for that, "Tornado said that Starotech was the result of The Light experimenting with bio-organisms, science, and magic. How do you counter all of those things?" Itachi asked like he expected one of them to know the answer. Thankfully, Wally was getting where Itachi was going with this.

"By using the source! If we reverse-engineer one of those things to create a sort of anti-program to counter it. We can both free the Leaguers and prevent them from falling back into Savage's control!" Wally explained.

"But how will we do that in a short enough time with even knowing how they even constructed it?" Conner asked.

"We do know how they constructed it. They experimented on a tentacle that looked to be of Atlantean decent. I'm positive that was the organism used for the Starotech. Magic, science, and sea creatures, does that sound like any place familiar?" Itachi asked to the group.

"Atlantis!" They all answered. Itachi nodded at them in confirmation before turning to address Kaldur, "Aqualad, do you think you can go to Atlantis and have your people reverse-engineer it quickly? Since it comes from your home and used magic like how your people do, you all are our best shot at beating Savage."

"M'gann, set a course for Atlantis. We must move quickly. Between Queen Mera and Vulko, we should be able to create a counter organism quickly. Good work, Crow." Kaldur responded as they group strapped in.

"Wow, Itachi. Batman may be the world's greatest detective, but you're not too bad yourself. Always one step ahead of everyone." Robin commented.

Itachi nodded back at him as he mentally prepared for what happens next. He knew there was a good chance he would wind up fighting members of the Justice League and knew that if it came down to it, he couldn't hold anything back against certain members. And if The Masked Stranger was really there waiting for him, Itachi would show her no mercy.

* * *

It was an hour before midnight when Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Red Arrow returned to the Watchtower. They were greeted by Savage as they walked in. He asked Canary if she had any problems since she had taken so long to get back. She responded by informing him that she re-infected Red Tornado and Red Arrow. Red Tornado concurred with Canary's statement and even revealed that they had succeeded in infecting The Team as well and they were waiting for reprogramming back on Earth.

"I think not. Starotech does not reprogram the mind. It offers us remote control of it," Savage revealed. Klarion had a knowing look as the heroes' lie had been exposed, "We know exactly who's infected and who's not. And none of you are!"

Klarion used his magic to quickly restrain the three Leaguers. Savage smirked as new Starotechs were being prepared so that he could regain control over the heroes.

He walked over to them as he got ready to implant the devices, "50,000 years of life and nothing has ever trouble like the founding of the Justice League. Dedicated to maintaining society's calcified status quo, the League would protect mankind from disaster, crime, and tragedy of any kind. The world will never truly be a better place as long as your group continues to interfere with its rebirth. You hold this and every other world back because you cling to this broken system. Because you did, you forced my more enlightened colleagues and myself to organize a response. Under the guidance of our leader, we created a co-optive network of operatives, placed key individuals in key positions, and made certain we were on the cutting edge of all new technologies. Genetic engineering, bio-chemical engineering, cloning, robotics, nano-robotics, and even techno sorcery were all avenues of use. Not to mention every conceivable method of mind control; genjutsu included. With cold hard science, divine intervention, and a little misdirection; you champions of stagnation have now become our agents of change. Now the last piece to this puzzle will have no choice but to come into place once he realizes that the world's greatest heroes have been shown the light. Once he does, the Earth will finally be able to progress as it always should have been instead of being kept in place by the will of a corrupt and all powerful being."

When the villain was finished, all three of the heroes had been re-infected with the Starotech. As this was going on, Miss Martian had her Bioship in camouflage mode as she and the rest of the heroes had successfully infiltrated the Watchtower.

" **RT did it. Wirelessly bypassing security for us as soon as he got inside the Watchtower. Savage shouldn't know we're here."** Robin revealed.

" **Move out."** Aqualad ordered. The Team then split up and began to ambush members of the infected Justice League one by one. Plastic Man was first on the list. Artemis hit him with an arrow containing knockout gas. Before he knew how to react, Wally sped behind him and implanted a nano-device that incapacitated the hero.

Hawkman was next to fall when Superboy and Robin snuck up on him. Superboy punched the hero when he wasn't looking, which allowed Robin to take his back and quickly implant a nano-device to incapacitate him much like with Plastic Man.

The Atom was taken out next after him. As the shrunken man was conducting a science experiment, Zatanna used one of her spells to get the attention of the scientist. He grew back to normal size only for an invisible Miss Martian to implant him with the nano-device and take him out of the picture.

Captain Atom fell next when he found himself trapped in a force-field generated by Rocket. It was so strong that the hero couldn't use his nuclear powers to break free. She dropped the field in the exact moment Aqualad used his powers to create a water whip and use it to implant the nano-device into the hero.

It didn't take long for Klarion to figure out that The Team had infiltrated the Watchtower, "The brats are aboard. They've taken away four of my toys."

"Recall all League members away on missions. The Crow must be here too. This is our chance to capture him and bring both him and the device to The Masked Stranger and fulfill our goal. We will also put these children in their place once and for all. Perhaps the threat of us killing his friends will make the Crow more compliant." Savage responded.

Klarion like the sound of that plan but had one more question to answer, "Hey Vandal, shouldn't those three be back online by now. They're not showing up on my screen."

Savage turned to investigate but got greeted by a ferocious Fireball Jutsu that was fired directly at him and made contact. The Crow dropped down and revealed himself as Canary, Red Tornado, and Red Arrow stopped acting like they were under control. Savage used his strength to douse the flames off of him, but Tornado followed up by using his wind to stop Savage from progressing any further.

Canary went for Klarion with her sonic scream but he easily neutralized it with his magic. Crow walked up to Savage and had a dead serious look in his eyes that Savage could swear reminded him of The Masked Stranger whenever she was pissed.

"Where is she? Tell me where the Stranger is." Crow threatened. Savage smirked at the shinobi, "Oh, she isn't here. She had a family emergency to attend to, but she sends her regards. But if you really want to meet her, I'll bring you to where she is. All you have to do is come with us."

"Who is she and why does she hate the world so much? Why am I needed for her goals to be fulfilled?" Crow asked of the villain.

"For the first two, not even I know the answers to that. And I have known her since she first came to this world. You're just going to have to ask her yourself. I have the feeling that you'll get plenty of chances real soon. As for the last question, I do know the answer to that. Why do any of us do anything of major consequence? Because we believe it will make the world a better place." Savage replied smugly.

"How does murdering innocent people help make the world a better place?" Crow asked. Savage laughed at him, "I don't know. Why did you murdering innocent members of your clan make your world a better place, Itachi? Oh, I know a lot about you. I have a great source of reference. But still, I don't know as much as my partner. She knows everything about you and has so much invested in you. You are as important to her as a child is to their mother. She knows you more than you know yourself."

"Enough of your words," Itachi was about to attack the villain, but a huge portal opened within the Watchtower. Out of it came members of the Justice League that were away while in search of Itachi. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Hawkwoman, and Batman were all glaring at Itachi and the other heroes as Klarion laughed.

Canary wasted no time in using her scream. She shouted at Manhunter only for the Martian to phase through it. Hawkwoman took advantage of the distraction and struck Canary with her mace. Red Arrow was focused as ever as he shot an arrow at Manhunter. The Martian tried phasing through that attack as well, but Roy was prepared and used an incendiary arrow. Manhunter caught fire as a result and fell to his knees. He tried doing the same to Batman but the vigilante was too skilled to fall for something like that and knocked the arrow away.

Batman then engaged Roy in hand to hand combat. Roy threw a sweeping strike with his bow but Batman quickly ducked it and got into the clinch with the archer. After a right hook and knee to the stomach, Roy was sent to the floor and knock unconscious. Tornado was the last one defeated when Green Lantern used his ring to keep the android in place. Superman and Wonder Woman proceeded to rip all of his limbs of before the android fell next to Roy and Dinah in a defeated heap.

All of the infected League members turned their attention towards Itachi as Savage glared at Itachi, "You found a way to reverse-engineer a Starotech cure and used it to vaccinate the League members from my control. There's no point in taking neither those three nor any of your friends alive. I would offer you another chance to come willingly, but we both know you'd refuse."

Itachi responded by using one of the jutsu of his Rinnegan, "Universal Pull!"

Hawkwoman's mace was pulled over to Crow. The winged heroine got pulled along with the mace since she kept such a strong grip on it. The result ended with Crow catching her by her throat and slamming her down on the floor hard. He created two black chakra receivers and used them to pin both of Hawkwoman's wings to the ground so that she couldn't move. She shouted in pain as he did it. Superman and Green Lantern both shot off heat vision and laser blasts respectively to get Itachi off of her, but he blocked both attacks by quickly summoning a half-body, armored Susanoo and using his Yata Mirror. Thanks to his Susanoo's protection, the others could only watch as he implanted the nano-device into Hawkwoman's neck and freed her from Savage's control.

Savage clapped at Itachi's show of power, "Bravo, Crow. That show of efficiency reminds me of the Stranger whenever she gets in the mood for a fight. But can you do that to the rest of the League? If you can't, you'll be brought to the Stanger and I'll win."

"No, you'll lose no matter what happens because I always come prepared." Itachi responded as his fight with the Justice League started.

* * *

While Itachi was engaging his fight against the Justice League, members of The Team had battles of their own. Icon, Doctor Fate, and Captain Marvel had all just arrived inside the Watchtower. Miss Martian was waiting for them and as soon as the coast was clear, she attacked from above by using the nano-devices. One of them made their mark with Doctor Fate and quickly took him out of the fight. Icon responded by shooting an energy blast to destroy the other two devices and knock Miss Martian from her hiding spot. Rocket reacted quickly and flew over to her uncle and implanted a nano-device before he knew it and took care of him. Only Captain Marvel was left.

The demi-god spotted Zatanna and quickly moved to attack her. The sorceress didn't have any nano-device on her and had to react fast. Fortunately, she remembered from Tornado that the Starotech was body sensitive and Captain Marvel was one of two bodies that the soul of Billy Batson possessed.

"Trulb tuo mazahs!" She shouted. Captain Marvel did as the spell ordered and shouted his magic word, "Shazam!"

The demi-god was turned back into Billy Batson and freed of Savage's control. Aqualad went to help the boy up as the other did an account of the battles so far, **"Too bad Curotech doesn't work as fast as Starotech. We could really use the League's help."**

" **It is a miracle that Queen Mera, and Doctors Roquette, Spence and Vulko were even able to re-engineer a cure and vaccine at all, let alone in just a few hours. We must move quickly. Crow is engaging Savage and I would very much like to provide backup for him."** Aqualad responded.

" **Hey, if you guys aren't busy?"** Wally called out. Aqualad quickly responded, **"On my way! You three rendezvous with Robin and Superboy and go assist Crow."**

" **You two go ahead, I'll be right behind you."** Zatanna said as Rocket and Miss Martian did what was ordered by Aqualad. She strolled over and attempted to remove Nabu's helmet from her father. The result of that was the helmet shocking Zatanna away from it as a defense mechanism. She got frustrated and decided to match magic with magic, "Temleh, esaeler ym rehtaf!"

The spell didn't work and Zatanna wound up being blast by the residual recoil of her spell. Billy went to check on her to see if she was alright. He knelt down and saw that the girl was crying from disappointment and grief, "I can save Fate from Savage, but I still can't save me father from Fate."

Artemis and Kid Flash were in a heated battle with The Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. The archer shot an arrow at the scarlet speedster, but he caught it while also shoulder rushing his nephew to the ground. She thought quickly and shot an explosive arrow, only this time she aimed at the speedster's feet. The tactic work as Flash couldn't react in time and got knocked away from the explosion.

Green Arrow returned the favor by shooting an explosive arrow at Artemis in retaliation. She leapt out of the way to avoid the arrow as it exploded and regrouped with Kid Flash, **"I'm amazed we're still alive."**

" **It's because they're being controlled. They're limited by whoever's pulling their strings. The very thing putting us in danger is the only thing giving us a chance."** Kid Flash replied.

Right after that, Aqualad came to provide assistance to them, **"Artemis, Kid. Now!"** Artemis shot an arrow at the door that had a steel cable attached to it. Aqualad instructed them to hold on as the alarm within the room rang. The cargo bay doors suddenly opened and the room started venting the atmosphere. The Leaguers eventually succumbed to the pulling force of space and were sent flying towards the outside. Aqualad reached over to close the bay door which resulted in the Leaguers being saved. They instead slammed against the doors hard and fell into unconsciousness. Kid Flash sprinted to the adult and implanted the Curotech devices before they could recover and ended the fight.

Back up top, Itachi was in the middle of a fight with Leaguers of his own. He and Batman were engaged in hand to hand combat currently. It wasn't much of a challenge as Crow had already proven to be the better of the two fighters. Batman threw a jab, cross, hook combination that Crow easily blocked. Batman decided to follow that up with a roundhouse kick to Crow's body, but Crow caught the kick and pinned it to his body as Batman found himself stuck in Crow's grip. Crow kicked Batman's plant leg out from under him, got a grip of the back of Batman's neck, and ferociously threw the Dark Knight down face first into the ground. He was about to finish the job and implant a Curotech device into Batman, but was stopped when Wonder Woman came at him while wielding her shield and sword.

Crow summoned a kunai to try and deflect her sword, but the Amazon cut right through it. Itachi reacted quickly by leaping off of the platform they were on to avoid being hit. Unfortunately for him, Superman was waiting as the hero tackled Itachi out of the air. Crow knew that they needed him alive so this wouldn't be fatal, but if he didn't do something fast that the impact of the attack would take him out of the fight.

Itachi summoned the ribcage of his Susanoo just as they made impact. The ribcage took the brunt of the impact and Itachi made it unscathed. Now it was time for the shinobi's counterattack, "Timeshadow!"

Itachi used his Rinnegan's ability to reverse time around Superman to just before he made impact with Itachi in the air, only Itachi still was on the ground as it finished. Once Crow has the Kryptonian where he wanted him, he allowed time to resume as Superman came hurdling down towards him. The difference now was that Crow was ready.

The vigilante leapt up and used Superman as a springboard to propel higher. Superman didn't know what happened as he missed his target somehow and went crashing into the ground as a result. As Crow was airborne, Wonder Woman decided to try and meet him. That was her big mistake because instead of a kunai, Crow summoned a chakra receiver that stayed intact when it made contact with the Amazon's sword. Itachi quickly transitioned into his next attack as he took hold of her arm and threw her into the ground where Superman was still recovering. She wound up colliding into him as a result of it.

Itachi would finish his attack by using his most trusted jutsu, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The fireball collided with both of the heroes to cause a giant explosion, _'That should keep them down for a while.'_

Before Crow could react, Green Lantern shot a laser blast from his ring at Itachi's blind spot and blasted him into a nearby balcony. The Lantern flew at Itachi soon afterwards to keep up the pressure. The attack would have worked, but Green Lantern made one big mistake; looking into Itachi's eyes.

' _Genjutsu,'_ Before John Stewart knew what hit him Itachi put him under a genjutsu and rendered the galactic hero out of the fight. Itachi went over and removed John's ring before implanting the Curotech to free him from Savage. Itachi felt the ground beneath him start to shake and knew that things were only going to get harder, _'Looks like Superman is awake.'_

Manhunter suddenly came out of the ground from behind Itachi and trapped him into a bear hug. Itachi could feel the alien trying to invade his brain as the bear hug got stronger. Itachi took a look back and smirked behind his mask as before mustering his next words, "Took you long enough."

"You waited for me?" The Martian asked as he increased the mental input being used to try and invade Itachi's mind. Itachi shook his head, "Not you…your niece."

"My niece?" Manhunter got hit with a psychic blast courtesy of his niece, M'gann, as she was in her White Martian form. Itachi then broke free of J'onn's grip and threw him head first into the nearby wall. He even added a paperbomb for reassurance. Once the bomb went off and Manhunter was revealed to be unconscious, Itachi implanted the Curotech into M'gann's uncle and freed him too.

" **How you holding up?"** M'gann asked as she reverted back to her normal appearance. Before Crow could answer her he had to deal with a charging Wonder Woman. He promptly took care of her by using the skeletal fist of his Susanoo to crush the Amazon into several floors beneath them. She smiled at her friend, **"You didn't even bother looking at her."**

" **With her screaming like a crazed barbarian I didn't have to. I take it the other members have been freed?"** Itachi responded. She nodded in confirmation. They both looked down and saw that Superboy, Robin, and Rocket had also joined the fight. Superboy had just slammed a big piece of tech down hard onto Superman while Robin and Rocket were dealing with a pissed of Wonder Woman who had just landed into their laps.

" **Go help Robin and Rocket. I'll help Superboy take care of Superman."** Crow said as he leapt down to rejoin the fight. Robin and Rocket had their hands full. Though they successfully managed to trap Wonder Woman in one of Rocket's kinetic force-fields, it also meant that she had to put all of her focus into keeping the Amazon contained. It didn't help that Batman was trying to attack her too. Robin was forced to run interference and fight his teacher.

He threw smoke bombs to try and get the advantage that way, but found out that Batman was still more than capable of fighting while blind as he was introduced to the wrong side of Batman's fist. Superboy had the same luck as he just ate a nasty left hook from Superman that sent him flying. Superman would have continued the assault but heard the sounds of someone's descent and looked up. He saw the Crow soaring down and shot his heat vision at the vigilante.

Itachi took advantage of Superman's choice of attack by employing a quick, multilayered attack that all began with a single jutsu, "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"

He shot a giant torrent of water at the heat vision and the ensuing collision caused the field of play to be swallowed in a deep, dense fog. Itachi knew that heated water would cause steam that could provide him and his teammates with the cover they needed while dealing with these powerhouses.

Superman flew through the fog to where he last saw Crow, only to get there and find out that Itachi wasn't there anymore. The Kryptonian looked on in frustration from having lost track of his target. He decided to take his frustration out on the next thing he saw, Miss Martian. Superman flew straight at the unsuspecting girl and punched her right into a wall. Superboy saw this and rushed out in anger, but was promptly subdued by a two-handed hammerfist of Kal-El.

Robin found himself on the losing fight with Batman. No matter what he threw at the vigilante, Robin couldn't seem to connect with a strike, whereas Batman seemed to connect with everything he threw. Robin got desperate and threw a triple kick combination to try and throw Batman off, but the crime fighter check all three kicks and landed a hard uppercut against his sidekick that sent the teenager hurdling to where Superboy had just landed.

"We need to do something fast or it isn't going to end well for us." Superboy said in frustration.

"Yeah, we need to work together." Robin said in agreement.

Superman and Batman made their respective descents to finish off the young heroes. Itachi waited for something like this to happen and now had open looks at both of the heroes back. After shooting his Water Bullet to cause a fog, Itachi quickly used the Rinnegan to shoot himself to the ground. He took the gamble that this controlled Superman would go where he last saw Itachi first rather than using his super-vision to scan the field before reacting. He took the bait and Itachi made it safely to solid ground. Itachi knew that he wouldn't have long before Superman would find him, even in a fog. With only seconds to spare, Itachi used the Transformation Jutsu to transform before Superman found him. And who did Itachi transform into? None other than Superboy's girlfriend, M'gann.

Superman let frustration get the better of him and knocked M'gann into a wall, but in reality it was Itachi that took the hit. And when Superboy saw his girlfriend get taken out like that, Itachi knew the clone would rush in and take up all of the attention of Superman. With that, all Itachi had to do was wait until the moment was right before making his next move. Now he had a chance to take out two birds with one stone, "Almighty Push!"

The attack sent Superman hurdling into the ground faster than what was intended and caused the hero to crash down hard. Batman looked up and saw that the culprit of this attack was in fact Itachi, but in doing that he made a fatal mistake of his own; taking his eyes off of Superboy and Robin. Superboy took advantage of it by swing Robin around before ultimately throwing the Boy Wonder at Batman whom, because of the enhancement of Superboy, couldn't react in time and got kicked into a wall before falling down to the ground hard. Robin moved quickly and implanted the Curotech to free Batman.

When Superman slowly started to get up, Superboy came rushing in to hold him in place. Crow got his next jutsu ready before asking, "Are you sure about this?"

"Just do it!" Itachi nodded at him as he weaved the necessary hand signs. Itachi took aim and unleashed the jutsu, "Fire Style! Blaze Ball Jutsu!"

A fireball made up of the black flames of the Amaterasu made contact with both Superboy and Superman, though Superman took the brunt of the attack. They were engulfed in black flames as both succumbed to the searing heat. Once Superman stopped moving, Itachi used the Petra Path of his Rinnegan to absorb the charka of his Amaterasu and douse the flames before serious damage was caused. Once the cost was clear, Robin implanted the Curotech and freed Superman before helping Conner back to his feet.

Itachi went to check on his friends, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just didn't think that would be as hot as it was." Conner responded.

"Dude, you totally just took down Batman and Superman," Robin said with impression in his voice. Itachi shook his head before correcting him, "No, we just took down Batman and Superman."

Robin and Superboy smiled at their friend's correction. It still amazed them how humble Itachi was despite being as powerful as he was. Itachi saw that M'gann and Rocket had just freed Wonder Woman and knew that he still had one thing left to do, "Time to get Savage."

Savage saw that the Justice League had all been freed from his Starotech and knew that this fight was over, "Time to make our leave."

"Come on, we can take them!" Klarion responded. Savage looked at him with a raised brow, "Them, maybe. But The Crow, absolutely not. And if we were to fight, you'd only lose control and destroy this station in the process. Do you really want to those problems especially after the last time you interfered with her plans? Even if they are not in our thrall, the Light still needs the Justice League alive for phase two."

"Yeah, I see your point. But we didn't even accomplish her plans. We lost Crow and now we'll be returning empty-handed. It won't end well for us like this either." Klarion responded.

"I wouldn't say that. We have the interdimensional portal transmitter which makes this not a total failure. Besides, I have a feeling that there was no way we could ever bring The Crow in." Savage replied.

"What makes you say that?" Klarion asked. Savage shrugged, "Just a feeling. You can't lose what you never had, right? And I have the feeling like we never were even close to getting The Crow today. He said it himself. Even if he fell, we'd still lose because he came prepared. And remembering how she prepped us on how the boy thinks, it would only make sense for my hypothesis to be why he said that."

"What does any of that supposed to even mean," Klarion asked. Savage whispered to him what he really meant. Klarion's eyes got wide with shock and excitement. Savage turned off the monitor and got ready to be teleported back to their base, "Moves and countermoves, Klarion. He thinks he has us in check, but in reality, we just checkmated him. I wish I could see the look on his face once he realized that all that he fights for is already gone. Because those things, like him, were never real to begin with."

Klarion used Tikal to conjure a portal that began to transport them just as Crow arrived to the scene. Savage and Klarion smirked as Crow tried one last ditch Fireball Jutsu. The portal transported the villains before the blast connected, but Savage did manage to leave one parting message. Though it could also be considered a threat as well, "See you soon, Crow."

Itachi groaned in frustration that he let the two of them escape. That wasn't the only thing that frustrated him though. His teammates joined him on the observation deck. For appearances sake, Itachi hid his true feelings.

Red Tornado congratulated them on succeeding, "Congratulations, Team. You have won the day. Savage was defeated and Itachi has been kept from their grasp. The Day of Golden Light has been averted."

Just as he said that a giant screen appeared before them alerting them that it was New Year's Day as music played. Wally took advantage of the moment and took Artemis into his arms, "I should have done this a long time ago."

"No kidding." She replied as the two finally kissed and became an official couple. Feeling the romance in the air, the other members of The Team decided to follow their lead. Conner and M'gann began to kiss, and so too did Robin and Zatanna. Even Aqualad and Rocket got in on the romance.

The only person off to himself was Itachi. He was glad his friends got to experience a moment of peace in all of this chaos, but peace wasn't in the cards for him. He still had one thing left to do and since The Masked Stranger never showed up to the Watchtower, it means his theory about her following him from the shadows in Gotham was true. It meant that his loved ones, Ayumi and Carson, were in grave danger.

Itachi inconspicuously made his leave from the group as they were all still busy celebrating. He stopped outside of a corridor before taking his Crow mask off. He dropped it to floor and gave his friends one last look, _'I'm sorry, but this might be the last mission we ever go on together. I wish I could tell you the truth, but you'd only try to stop me or worse; want to go with me. I can't risk your lives for a problem that began in my world. This is my fight…a fight that will kill me one way or another. Thank you all for being my friends. I'll always remember our time together. But from now on, I am no longer a member of The Team.'_

With that final thought, Itachi went up in smoke, revealing that he had been a clone jutsu all along. The real Itachi had never left Gotham and was still following after his loved ones. Once the memories of his clone from the events of today hit him, Itachi immediately felt sad. He wished he had just more day with his friends.

* * *

After Itachi's clone went up in smoke in the Watchtower, Wally stopped kissing Artemis and looked around the room for Itachi. Wally wanted to apologize for how he acted towards him earlier in the day. He noticed that Itachi wasn't with them and got worried, "Guys, where's Itachi? I don't see him."

They all had confused looks on their faces as they realized that Itachi had indeed disappeared. Conner used his vision to search the entire station, but didn't see him anywhere onboard the Watchtower.

"He's not here. Here as in anywhere on the Watchtower. I don't understand. It's like he's van-" Conner got interrupted when M'gann's uncle and Doctor Fate came charging in. They both looked panicked and distressed, "Where is the savior?!"

"W-We don't know. We're trying to figure that out ourselves. Tornado, did you see where he went?" M'gann responded.

"No, he snuck away while you all were distracted with kissing each other. He did not mention where he was going." Tornado answered. Fate's shoulders sunk, "Then it is as you said. The end of the world is upon us."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We just beat the bad guy. This Masked Stranger chick never even showed up. The Gold Day of Fight or whatever it's called ain't happening. What's the big deal?" Wally complained.

Doctor Fate responded by pointed out the viewing window to where Earth could be seen. They all gasped when a giant, spread out golden cloud surrounded about half the planet. Aqualad was the first to find his voice, "What is that?"

"While I was under Savage's control, there was a point where I peeked into Itachi's mind. I discovered that Itachi was never here." J'onn revealed.

"What do you mean by that? Of course he was here. We all saw him fighting and kicking the League's butt." Rocket retorted.

"You saw a clone do that," J'onn responded. They did not like where this was going. J'onn looked on as he continued, "Itachi, the real Itachi, never left Gotham. He stayed behind to use himself as bait for The Masked Stranger. He suspects that the Stranger has compromised him and threatens to kill his loved ones. He believes that she has been spying from him from the shadows whilst waiting for an opportunity to strike. Itachi wasn't sure about it though, so to test his theory, he sent a clone with you all when you called him in earlier in the day. The clone was meant to see if the Masked Stranger would be with Savage here in the Watchtower. If she did, then his theory would have been proven wrong and his loved ones safe from danger. But she never showed, which means…"

"Which means that Itachi is in danger because the Stranger has him right where she wants him. This attack was never about getting Itachi to come to her. She wanted us away from him. And we fell for it. Now he's by himself…with her…" Robin finished.

"That gold cloud must mean that it is already done. The Day of Golden Light is here." Fate ominously revealed.

"Why didn't he tell us?" M'gann asked. J'onn put a hand on his niece's shoulder as he delivered the worst of the news, "Itachi did not want to add to your worries. He suspects that his life has been in danger for a long time now. He knew that at any moment the Stranger could strike and wanted you away from him when that happened. He has enlisted help from people he knows locally because he knows they will run when he tells them. He fights so that none of you will have to and intends to do this alone, even if it kills him. I think…you should respect his wished and stay behind."

"Team, move out now!" Aqualad ordered as the young heroes ignored J'onn's request and ran towards M'gann's Bioship. Before they got too far though, Fate summoned a shield halt their progress. Artemis turned and stomped over to the ancient sorcerer with hot tears still falling down her face, "Drop that shield this instant. I will NOT stand here and wait for my friend to die! Do you hear me?! Drop it now!"

"You wouldn't survive the trip. No ship can make it through that cloud for that is not a normal cloud. That is what the savior refers to as chakra. Something that shouldn't be able to be seen by mortals anywhere can be seen by almost the entire world. There is no surviving that. Not even Superman would survive flying through it. Itachi knew that and meant for you to stay and live. You'd only be a burden and force him to hold back anyways." Fate responded as that last statement stung all of the kids.

"Go to Hell! We can still try!" Artemis responded as she drew her bow at Fate. Tears obscured her vision but that didn't deter her from fighting for her friend, "If it were Zatanna down there would you honestly sit back and wait for her to die?! I'm talking to Zatara, not this bastard spirit! Well, could you?! You, nor Itachi, don't get to decide the battles we can and can't fight! Only we do! Drop that shield, now!"

"I will not," Artemis started to shoot her arrow. Fate put a hand up to stop her, "I won't drop the shield to let you all die trying to fly there. I will, however, teleport you to as close to Gotham as possible. I don't know where the savior is precisely located so you will have to find that out on your own, but I can give you a fighting chance."

They all had shocked looks on their faces, "Why?"

"By what right do I have to deny you the chance to possibly either save your friend, or say goodbye to him like how he has to you?" Fate responded.

"Thank you," M'gann said as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. Fate decided to give them fair warning, "Most of the League still hasn't awoken yet. You will be doing this completely on your own. Even if you find him, it may still be too late. This day will change everything. Are you sure you all are ready to take on everything that that means?"

"Watch us." Conner responded as the Team got ready to help their friend. They all prayed that it wasn't already too late. Doctor Fate got the spell ready, but first decided to let them know what was awaiting them, "Before you go, I must tell you of the prophecy."

* * *

A police car stopped right outside of the Westward Bridge. From out of the car came Carla, Phil, James, Carson, and Ms. Yumi. With all of the abandoned cars still on the bridge, they knew there was no point in continuing to drive and decided to go on foot the rest of the way. Once they crossed the bridge they would be in the outskirts of Gotham. From there Itachi would lead towards his hideout where they would wait it out until The Masked Stranger was dealt with.

Speaking of Itachi, the shinobi landed in front of them from atop the bridge. Carson ran to him and hugged him since all day she had no idea where he was thanks to him following from the rooftops, "I'm so glad to see you again. I hate not knowing if you're okay."

"I'm alright. You never left my sight." Itachi responded. James went up to him to ask about their security status, "Are we good?"

"No one was following us. With all of the back routes Officer Pierce was taking, it would make it hard for someone to follow and I not notice from my high vantage points. Even someone for my world like The Masked Stranger." Itachi replied.

"Good, we should keep moving. We can't afford to stay stagnant for long." James suggested. Itachi agreed and led the way as they traversed in silence through the bridge. With all of the cars blocking large chunks of the bridge the group would have to sometimes separate in order to keep progressing. Carla voiced her concerns about using this strategy, "Um, are you sure we should be separating like this?"

Phil put a hand on his wife's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, "It's for the best. This way, we not only have a more spread out field of vision, but we also have aren't such a big target. If the Stranger does show up, we have a better chance of escape being more spread out."

"Thanks, Phil. I'd almost forgotten how good at this you are. But if we're spread out, couldn't the Stranger take one of us hostage." She said. Phil sighed at her, "That thought occurred to Crow when he went over the plan with James and me. He figures that if the Stranger shows up and the group is separated, she'll most likely go for Crow first since he is the target that she's after. And since he's purposefully so far ahead of the rest of the group, we'd all see the attack and make a run for it."

"So, he really is using himself as bait then…" Carla muttered to herself. Phil sighed at her, "He is."

She kicked a piece of rubble in frustration. She already knew that it was the plan, but she hated that using Itachi as cattle for slaughter was their best course of action. It only proved how ahead of everyone The Masked Stranger really was.

James and Carson were walking together through the bridge. James decided to indulge in conversation since it was a very large bridge and would take them a long time to cross it on foot, "So, what are you and Itachi's plans if everything works out well in the end."

She stopped and did a double take. James laughed at her response, "What did I say that was so jarring?"

"Nothing it's just…it's just you've never asked about Itachi and I's relationship before. I don't really know what's next for us. It's whatever Itachi decides in the end." Carson responded.

"I see. Hope it ends well for the both of you. He makes you happy, so that makes me happy. I know I was immature about him before but seeing how he makes you smile, I never want that to end. Just be careful not scare him off with your wild imagination and take your time with this. You both have the rest of your lives to be together after this threat is dealt with." James wisely said.

"I know, it's just that I'm scared that there always be something like 'this'. And I know Itachi. He has no problem isolating himself from people if he feels it's in their best interest to stay away from him. He also has a desire to not see people worry, even if that means burdening himself with extra stress. He's a selfless person." Carson sadly said.

"I see the way he looks at you. No matter how many times things like this happen; it will never overtake the place you hold in his heart. I look forward to walking you down the aisle when you and he eventually get married." James teasingly said. She slapped him in the shoulder as her face got red from blushing.

"Knock it off! Talking about weddings. You'll jinx us. But thanks, I'm so glad to have my brother here with me. With you and Itachi here, I know that nothing could ever hurt me." Carson said to her brother. It made James both happy knowing that she had this much faith in him and determined to not let her down.

Itachi walked ahead of the group with Ms. Yumi. She and him walked in comfortable silence, at least that's what Itachi thought. To Ayumi, it felt like she was literally waiting for her world to end. Itachi finally got wind of how stress she seemed and stopped once he got to a carless section of the bridge.

"What's troubling you?" Itachi asked as he turned to face her.

"How did it go with your friends earlier? Has the clone disbursed yet?" Ayumi asked. Itachi nodded his head, "It has. The threat was defeated though they did manage to steal some device that affects dimensions in theory. But don't switch the subject. Why do you look so distressed?"

The others had caught up to them and wondered why Itachi and Ms. Yumi had stopped. The woman sighed before responding, "I'm scared that I'm going to lose you. After all this time, and all these years waiting; I don't want it to be over. But it looks that's how it's going to be. This bridge is supposed to take us to safety, but I fear it will only take us to heartache."

"What are you talking about? You're not going to lose me. You're just stressed. I've asked too much of a woman your age and for this I am sorry. But please, we can't stop while it's only half-way done. We have to keep moving forward." Itachi implored of her. Those words seemed to snap something inside of her because her entire demeanor changed afterwards.

"Yes…forward. I have to keep moving forward. It doesn't matter what I want to do. There's only what I have to do, for the sake of my son." Ms. Yumi said with conviction.

"Good, now let's go. This Masked Stranger could still show up." Itachi warned. Carson and the others ran up to going the pair. They stopped when they felt the mood around Ms Yumi and Itachi. James asked why they had stopped, "What's the hold up? We have to keep going. There are no cars to provide us cover so we're exposed here. The Stranger could still be on our trail."

"We were just leaving. I won't let the Stranger get to us." Itachi declared as he started walking. The others joined him. The only person who stayed still was Ms Yumi. When she spoke her next words, everything changed, "It's too late. She's already here."

The group stopped in their tracks and got so quiet they could hear a pin drop. Itachi turned immediately and asked her what she meant by that, "How do you know? I've been watching everywhere. There's no way she could be here and I not know it first."

"But you did know it first," They all felt the atmosphere change as the clouds above them shined a color of gold for as wide as the eye could see. Itachi looked up and saw that this cloud wasn't at all what it seemed. It was chakra. Chakra so powerful and palpable that it not only be visible seen, but had somehow turned gold. The fact that the others could look and see the cloud too was proof of that. The only person not in awe of the wonder that they were seeing was Ms. Yumi. Itachi spoke to her again, "Is this how you can sense the Stranger nearby?"

Her answer shook Itachi to his core and left him speechless for the first time in a very long time, "No, I don't sense her…I am her."

As she said that, something dropped from her person. They all looked and saw that it was a mask. The others didn't know what it meant, only James and Itachi since they were the only ones to have actually met The Masked Stranger. The mask that fell was the same one that the Stranger wears. The others saw the looks of Itachi and James and knew that something very bad had just happened. For Ayumi, it meant that the last strings holding her back had finally been severed. James and Phil had their hands on their gun holsters, waiting to draw the firearms out at a moment's notice.

Ayumi's face got soft as tears began to flow down her face, "That's always been my problem. I'm always an observer, never a doer. But when I came here, I swore that would change. I was tired of suffering and dying for people who wouldn't do the same for me. No clans, no worlds, I'd only live for what matters most. You Itachi, my first born son is the only thing that I care about. I've waited so long for you…too long for you. For over two lifetimes, I have spent here waiting and planning for our reunion. For the Sage's conscious to finally overwhelm him and compel him to fix his greatest sin. When I first came here I was but a babe, I didn't the comprehend the full scope of what was awaiting me when I started this mission. And now, with the opportunity right in front of me, I feel so conflicted. Because doing this means I can never have a normal relationship with you again. I used to be nothing but a self-doubting pacifist. But it's too late for peace. I have no doubt that what I'm doing is for the best. I shouldn't have to lie to be with my son. Or where a mask just to really talk to you. So that's why I'm not hiding anymore and will keep moving forward as who I really am. There will be no more lies! I am Ayumi Uchiha! Granddaughter to Indra Otsutsuki and the mother of the Uchiha Clan!"

Itachi couldn't believe what he was hearing or seeing. Ms. Yumi had just told him that her real name was Ayumi Uchiha. But she had first told him that she was Asura's granddaughter and a descendent of the Senju Clan, _'Has she really been lying to me all this time?'_

Her body began to be shrouded in steam. It started to revert and get younger right before everyone's eyes. When the process was done, Ayumi's body looked like a woman in her mid-twenties. She had stopped crying and now had a look of conviction on his face. Itachi also saw that she had Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes now and hands that were covered in gold lightning.

"No more waiting and watching. As your mother, I will take you back from that Sage's evil clutches and together we will save the world!" Ayumi declared as she ran towards Itachi who was still motionless from shock.

"I don't think so! Now, Phil!" James yelled as they both drew their guns to try and shoot Ayumi. The woman showed them no mercy for interfering. She attacked James first by ducking past a fired round using her Sharingan. Ayumi then used her electrified up hand to cut through and sever James' right leg completely from his body. She then went over to Phil who tried backing away, but was powerless when she sprinted forward and cut his throat open to the bone. Both men fell in bloody and painful heaps. Carla went over to Phil to try and stop the bleeding, but could only watch through tears as her husband suffered and died from massive blood loss as blood poured from his neck. She wept loudly with sorrow and grief. James began screaming loudly in pain from losing his leg before going into shock.

Carson quickly ran to Itachi to try to get him to run away, "Itachi, please, go and get out of he-"

She stopped suddenly when she felt her body go numb. Itachi eyed went wide from the blood that landed on his face. He and Carson both looked down and saw an electrified hand protruding from out of her chest. Ayumi had used her Gold Lightning to pierce through Carson. Itachi's lover started hacking up blood and, without him commanding it, Itachi's Rinnegan activated.

"I won't let anyone get in between us again! I'll cut through everything in my way. I'm sorry, Itachi," Ayumi's body started to be surrounded by a golden aura as lightning covered her body much like when she activated her Chakra Mode. She gave Itachi one final look before weaving a hand sign, "I never wanted to break your heart like this, Itachi."

Out of nowhere, The Team came sprinting on the Bridge. After Doctor Fate told them of the prophecy he opened a portal to send them to Earth. Zatanna used a spell to track Itachi's whereabouts and jet over to Westward Bridge. Conner heard the whole thing and told them about Ayumi being the Masked Stranger. Artemis ran faster than she ever had as she tried to warn her friend, "Itachi, you have to get away!"

"Harmonic Convergence Jutsu!" Ayumi yelled. A giant golden bolt of lightning that originated from the heavens above struck the bridge as a result of the Harmonic Convergence Jutsu. It was drawn to Ayumi's golden aurora like a lightning rod and struck her. The force of the lightning was so strong that everyone and everything on the bridge got blown away. Itachi had to use a kunai to hold on to a stanchion as the bridged rocked back and forth. Itachi looked up to see the result of the jutsu and finally understood what The Day of Golden Light truly was. It was a golden, Perfect Susanoo.

The Susanoo's yell filled the air. Carson's half-living body went flying from the lightning bolt hitting the bridge. Ayumi's Susanoo took hold of her before soaring up towards the sky. Ayumi looked down at Itachi as she started ascending, _'Carson only has a limited amount of time left before she dies. If you want to save this girl, you're going to have to come get her.'_

Itachi stood there and watched as Ayumi flew away with Carson. No matter how hard Itachi tried to move, his legs wouldn't budge. Itachi was doing something else of note though. The one thing he hasn't done since he was thirteen years old; cry. Not tears of blood, actual tears fell from his eyes as an emotion he wasn't used to swept over him. In that moment, Itachi finally understood why Sasuke just stood there crying after he revealed that he had murdered their parents. All these years, Itachi thought it was fear, but only now does he understand what truly kept his brother from moving; heartbreak.

Itachi thought of a memory of Ayumi when what she once said truly made him happy, _'Because Itachi…I care about you like you were my own son. That is what you mean to me. Itachi Uchiha…my son.'_

' _Ayumi...Uchiha,'_ Itachi thought with disgust. The tears in his eyes went away and were replaced with tears of blood as his Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan glared up at Ayumi's Susanoo. He swore he would get Carson back, but that wasn't the only promise. Itachi normally tried to tame his emotions in times of trauma, but he made an exception when it came to Ayumi. He made one more declaration as the heartbreak and sorrow he felt soon turned into hatred and rage that filled his heart, _'I swear it! I'll kill you!'_

A giant red explosion occurred on the stanchion he stood on as his Perfect Susanoo formed and charged right after Ayumi's Susanoo. Itachi's Susanoo wasted no time as it tried to plunge the Totsuka Blade right into Ayumi's heart. And with that, the clash between mother and son had begun.

* * *

We are finally done with this one! This chapter was something special to write. From beginning to end, I felt so enthralled with it. And now I can finally say that Ms. Yumi is indeed the Masked Stranger and she is not here to play games. James and Phil (RIP) immediately felt her wrath after just the mere mention of getting in her way. Yes, my plan from when I first introduced her was to make her The Masked Stranger and if you pay attention throughout the story, there were several hints to her being the Stranger. From how she spoke to Itachi to how she was strategically put into certain scenes throughout the story, but there was one major hint that she had always been the Stranger; she was the only other person in the DC world that came from Itachi's world. I'm surprised that no one put that together. However, a few of you did correctly guess that Ms. Yumi was the Masked Stranger so kudos to you. I can't wait to get into her backstory because I already have it mapped out and I want to see if I can get you all to understand why she does what she does. It will answer a lot of the questions I already see coming from readers so I cannot wait to write it.

A lot of other stuff happened in the chapter too. Guys, that's all of Young Justice Season 1. Though I will incorporate the ending of the episode towards when this story finally wraps up as a set up for a potential sequel, the rest of the story will come completely from my brain and suggestions of you fellow readers. I don't know how long it will take me to write them, so please stay with me for a little while longer. After the big fight next chapter, I will get into Ayumi's background and lay out almost everything she has been doing behind the scenes. The only hint I'll give is that all that Itachi thinks he is fighting for is already gone because they never truly existed. Thank you to everyone who supported last chapter. If you haven't already, please favorite, follow, and review this story. Let me know what you think and how you would like the story to progress from here. All opinions are taking into account, even constructive criticism. Feel free to PM me too. I'm not the best with responding, but that's only because I'm a shy guy a first. Well, till next time guys and gals!


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